Silence of the Sound
by ForeverSam
Summary: She left to protect him — and herself. Even five years later it seemed like the best choice for everyone involved. But Riza should have known better. Fate has a funny way of making things work — no matter how hard one tries to run away —Royai—
1. Monotony

**Title: **Silence of the Sound  
**Rating:** K+  
**Pairing:** Roy/Riza  
**Summary:** She left to protect him — and herself. Even five years later it seemed like the best choice for everyone involved. But Riza should have known better. Fate has a funny way of making things work — no matter how hard one tries to run away —Royai—  
**Beginning Notes:** So…this is me…trying again for FMA. I've been working on this story for awhile, and I really like it, so I figured I'd put up the first chapter, just to see if I managed to generate any interest. So…yeah. Read on!  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Full Metal Alchemist_ or anything else you might recognize. The only thing here that's mine is the idea and the laptop I write it on.

* * *

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — I**_

_Roy stared at the paper in front of him in disbelief. There was no way — no way in _hell_ — that he was reading this right. There was something wrong with his eyes. There had to be._

_"Something wrong, Chief?" Breda asked, twirling his pen between his fingers as he eyed his superior officer with a bit of curiosity in his eyes. Roy shook his head slowly, still staring at the papers and trying to process the words written on them._

_"As of today, First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye officially resigns from her post as aide and bodyguard to Brigadier-General Roy Mustang," he murmured out-loud, as if that would help him to figure this out. "Oh God, no…no way…"_

_He didn't see the concerned eyes of his subordinates gazing at him in bewilderment. What in the world could have upset their superior _this_ much?…_

"Sir? Sir…wake up, you have paperwork to do. Come on General…"

Roy Mustang's head snapped up as a gentle hand shook him awake. "Wha…?" He muttered, rubbing his eyes and raising his head to look into the gentle eyes of the lieutenant who had replaced Riza Hawkeye as his aide. "Oh, sorry Lieutenant."

He grabbed a file, pulling it closer to him and opening it. Maria Ross' lips quirked into a tolerant smile as she turned away from the tired general and went back to her seat. She could tell, by the dark circles that stood out in stark contrast against Roy's pale skin, that Roy hadn't slept the night before. That wasn't a surprise, though. There were many nights he didn't sleep. And many more nights he drank. But that was another story.

By the time noon rolled around, Roy had gotten through about half a pile of the mountain of paperwork that currently dominated his desk.

Fuery and Breda left, muttering something about going down to the cafeteria to get food. Roy didn't bother moving; he wasn't hungry. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Maria making no move to leave either.

"You should go eat, Lieutenant." Words that had been uttered thousands of times, though to a very different woman.

"I'll go in a few, I just wanted to finish reading this report." Maria raised her eyes when she realized the dark gaze of superior officer had shifted away from her. "Is something wrong, sir?"

"No," Roy sighed, going back to his own work. "It's nothing." Nothing he was willing to talk to his lieutenant about, at any rate.

_Rebecca Catalina was _not_ a happy person. Not that Roy really blamed her. He supposed _he_ wouldn't have been very happy either if a crazy person had suddenly stormed into the shooting range and started shouting at _him_ as he demanded answers. "I'm sorry, _sir_," Rebecca growled, putting a heavy, sarcastic emphasis on the last word, "I didn't quite catch that. Do you want to repeat what you just said with_out_ screaming at me?"_

_Roy swallowed a couple of times, as if trying to swallow his anger. When he realized he probably wasn't going to be able to speak, he held out Riza's resignation to her best friend. Rebecca didn't take it; no doubt she already knew what it was. "So that finally found its way to your desk?" She asked, her voice flat, betraying no emotion. "Well what do you want from me?"_

_"A location." Roy's words received a blank stare. "I went to Riza's apartment, the landlord said she moved out yesterday. Where did she transfer to?"_

_Rebecca sighed heavily, rubbing her head. "She didn't…transfer, General. She resigned from the military." If ever there was an answer Roy wasn't expecting._

_"_What_?" Rebecca looked away from him, closing her eyes. "Why in the world would she do that?"_

_"Can't tell," Rebecca muttered, looking a bit resentful as she shoved her hands into her pockets. Roy narrowed his eyes at the uncomfortable lieutenant. He didn't usually like pulling rank. But he was in a bad mood, he wanted answers, and Catalina was _not_ his favorite person in the world. He'd make an exception._

_"Lieutenant Catalina I _order_ you to tell me where Hawkeye is and why she resigned."_

_To his surprise, Rebecca laughed humorlessly. "General Mustang no offense but a promise to my best friend means a damn sight more to me than an order from you. So short of having me court-martialed, you're not getting any answers from me. Sorry."_

_She turned to walk away. "Was it me?" Roy asked out of sheer desperation. He had to know. Was it something _he_ had done? Had he driven Hawkeye away?_

_Rebecca stopped, looking halfway over her shoulder. "Kind of," she admitted, much to Roy's surprise. "It's sort of you…but mostly her. Don't think too much on it."_

_As if that was possible_.

_Wham!_

Roy, as lost in thought as he'd been as he dragged himself down to the cafeteria, didn't see where he was going until he'd walked into someone carrying several large boxes that obstructed their view.

"Oof!"

_Crash!_

"Oh damn it…" Rebecca Catalina moaned as she stared at the mess of papers that spilled out of the boxes that had tumbled from her arms. She raised her eyes to glare at Roy. "A pleasure as always, General Mustang."

"Lieutenant Catalina," Roy sighed as he knelt down to begin picking up the papers. After a moment Rebecca joined him on the floor. "Sorry about that. Wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Clearly," Rebecca snorted, not taken by Roy's less than heartfelt apology.

_Well like the old saying goes, speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear_. Roy shook his head as he dumped a pile of papers into one of the open boxes. "Where are you going with all this anyways?"

"Paperwork office is doing an overaul, they need the range to confirm all of this stuff," Rebecca muttered disdainfully. She hated paperwork almost as much as Roy, and that was saying something. "I'm going to be here until midnight with all the crap they threw at me, and I'll probably have to come in tomorrow too, it was supposed to be my day off…expect your office to be getting hit up sometime soon too."

"I'll stay on my toes. Do you want help carrying this stuff down to the range?" Roy regretted the words the minute they were out of his mouth. Damn him and his gentleman tendencies, knowing Rebecca she'd take that as him trying to imply she was just a weak little woman who couldn't even carry a couple of boxes…

"No thanks, I won't keep you from your lunch." Roy was surprised when that was all she said on the subject. She must have been really upset about losing that day off.

Roy rocked back on his heels as they picked up the rest of the papers in silence. After a moment he stood, holding out a hand for Rebecca as well. Rebecca took it, allowing him to pull her up. "So…" Roy started to say, trying to figure out how to best word the question weighing heavily on his mind.

"Riza's doing fine." Roy blinked. What the hell, was the harpy a mind-reader too? Rebecca laughed dryly at the look on his face. "You're very predictable, General. Every time you want to ask about Riza you get this really far off look on your face and say 'so…' like you're trying to be casual."

Roy scowled. He hated being predictable. "So she's…doing all right?" He asked, noting with a bit of angry that he started _that_ sentence with 'so' as well. He was going to have to try and break that habit. Rebecca nodded slowly. "What's she up to now, anyways? I mean, if she's not in the military…"

He really was just curious. But the way Rebecca smiled at him told him that _she_ thought he was trying to pry answers out of her. Not that he didn't do that on a daily basis. But really, the fact that she was accusing him of such a thing _now_ was insulting. "I have to get this stuff down to the range," she said as she piled the boxes on top of one another and picked up the bottommost one, hauling them all up again. "General." Her voice was muffled as she clumsily rearranged the boxes to salute Roy.

"Lieutenant." Roy sighed as he saluted her, and watched her walk away. He hated how she was his _only_ connection to Riza. It wasn't fair.

"Damn paperwork," Rebecca cursed as she dropped the boxes, glaring at them as if they had done something to offend her. And in a roundabout way, they had. She stormed over to the phone, yanking it off the receiver and turning the dial with a bit more force than what was probably necessary. Whatever. She was in a bad mood. She'd pay for the phone if she ended up breaking it.

Realizing what her salary was and how much a phone for the military probably cost, Rebecca instantly vowed to treat the phone more gently.

The phone rang three times before somebody picked up. "_Hello_—"

"Hey Havoc, it's Rebecca," the woman rushed out hurriedly, not in the mood to listen to the full greeting that the general store workers always picked up with. There was a pause.

"_Hey Riza, your harpy's on the phone!_"

"Bite me Havoc," Rebecca growled into the phone.

"_How much are you going to be pay me?_" Another growl, and Havoc laughed. "_Riza's busy right now, can I take message?_"

"Just tell her I can't come tomorrow, the paperwork office is doing an overhaul or something, I got swamped." Havoc whistled, clearly amused by this.

"_Sucks to be you. Tell you, I really don't miss that part of the military. Paperwork was always a pain, though I gotta admit, it was fun listening to Hawkeye yell at Mustang about doing his work, he was always so lazy about it…_"

"I saw him today," Rebecca mumbled as Havoc's voice drifted off, his mind taking him away to happier times.

"_Mustang?_"

"No, Santa Claus." Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"_Great, tell him for Christmas I want a pair of fully functioning legs_."

"Havoc…"

"_Sorry_." Rebecca could tell Havoc was grinning. "_So how's ol' Mustang doing, anyways? I haven't seen him since…_"

Havoc didn't need to finish that sentence. Rebecca already knew. "He's…okay. I think. Misses Riza. He asks me about her every time we run into each other — which thankfully isn't that often. Sometimes I think he corners me on purpose just so he can ask me about her. He looks tired today, which is better than the alternative, I suppose. From what Ross has told me he gets drunk a lot at night, comes in hung-over in the morning."

"_He's a bitch to deal with when he's hung over,"_ Havoc muttered. "_Right after Hughes died he went on this huge one-night drinking binge. Not even Riza bothered trying to deal with him when he came in the next morning. He probably would have snapped her head off if she had. 'Course, she woulda just shot him, so it would've been a moot point, but that's not the point_."

"You know I almost feel sorry for him. I mean, he's an arrogant ass, for sure, but…he's lost pretty much everyone he cares about. That can't be easy."

"_I know what you mean_."

They both sighed, losing themselves in thought for a moment. "So hey, is Riza still busy?" Rebecca asked suddenly. It usually didn't take this long to deal with a couple of customers…

"_Oh, she's not here. I just pretended to yell to her earlier because I knew it would annoy you._"

"Jean Havoc you're an ass!" Rebecca snapped. She slammed the phone down, Havoc's amused laughter still echoing down the line. "Son of _bitch_…" She growled as she kicked one of the boxes filled with paperwork. She'd have to kill him next time she saw him.

By the time the lunch hour was over, Roy still hadn't succeeded in getting down to the cafeteria to get food. He spent most of the time just wandering around the building, thinking. He half-considered going down to the shooting range and using a couple of bullets to unload a bit of his frustration. But Rebecca would be down there, and if he got too annoyed he'd probably end up letting loose on _her_. And that wouldn't have been a good thing. No matter how satisfied he would have felt directly after the fact. He needed the harpy alive, unfortunately, if he wanted to stay informed on how Riza was doing.

He returned to his office silently. Maria, Fuery, and Breda were already there, sitting down to continue their work. Roy stared at Maria for a minute. It was so _wrong_, seeing her sitting there at what _should_ have been Riza's desk.

_Roy stared at the paper in front of him in disbelief. After a moment he raised his eyes to the brown-haired woman standing over him. Maria Ross saluted him nervously. She'd been terrified, to say the least, when she'd found out _she_ was being transferred to Roy Mustang's office in order to fill in for his recently-retired aide. She knew she wouldn't be received well._

_At least he wasn't yelling…_

_"Very well, Lieutenant." Roy's voice was a little more than a growl. He jerked his head at the empty desk to the right of his. "That'll be your desk. We start promptly at nine."_

_Fuery and Breda exchanged looks, deciding it would be in their best interest not to mention that Roy was generally ten to twenty minutes late. Except he'd been on time every day since Riza had left._

_Maria looked over her shoulder at the lieutenant and master sergeant, as if silently begging them for help. But neither man offered her any kind of help, instead returning to their paperwork. After a moment Maria went to sit in the desk Roy had pointed her too, beginning the paperwork that had accumulated in the absence of someone to do it. Roy glared at her, trying very hard to remind himself that it wasn't _her_ fault Riza had taken off. She was just the replacement._

_That didn't mean Roy had to like it_.

Roy was glad when five o'clock rolled around. He really just wanted to go home. He had a bottle of vodka waiting at home with his name on it.

* * *

Riza sighed as she closed the bedroom door, backing away and turning to face Havoc, who was leaning against the wall a few feet from the door, supporting himself on crutches. "What are you doing here?" She mumbled, walking past him as she started into the living room. Havoc followed her a bit unsteadily.

"Have a message for you. By the time I realized it was too late to call so I figured I'd make the bone-breaking journey from my house to yours to deliver it." Riza rolled her eyes as she sat down. Bone-breaking journey. Right. Havoc lived two houses down from her. Havoc smiled as he sat down in the armchair he usually occupied. "Anyways Rebecca called the store earlier. Said something about the paperwork office doing an overhaul, she got swamped in paperwork. She isn't going to be able to come tomorrow."

"She must be loving that."

"Not half as much as Mustang's going to love it when the overhaul hits _them_." Havoc grinned, hoping to elicit _some_ form of a smile from Riza. No luck. If anything her frown deepened at the sound of Mustang's name. "Remember that overhaul they did right before we transferred to Central? That was fun, we were there 'till what, three a.m.?"

"If memory serves, you and Breda fell asleep at your desks," Riza pointed out dryly.

"Yeah and Mustang tried to sneak out for a date." Havoc laughed. "Good times, eh?"

"Yeah, wonderful." The sarcasm in Riza's voice was not lost. "So is that all you came down here for? I mean, you could have just told me all that tomorrow morning, could you?"

Havoc sighed. He was pretty transparent when it came to Riza; she could always tell when he had an ulterior motive. "Well my physical therapy doctor says I should try and get more exercise. And I wanted to see how everything was going here, so I figured I'd get off my ass and hobble down to see you and my favorite godson. How's he doing anyways?"

"Well I finally got his fever to break." Riza sighed as she leaned her head back on the couch, closing her eyes. "I was up with him all of last night though, he kept coughing and he couldn't sleep…"

"You shoulda called me," Havoc said with a frown as Riza's voice drifted off. "I would've come down and sat with him so you could sleep."

"He was being clingy last night, I don't think he would've sat with you. Besides, it was late."

"And you hate asking for help." Havoc shook his head. "Do you want me to stay tonight, at least? You look like you could use a good night's sleep."

"I'll be fine," Riza declined, of course. Havoc raised an eyebrow at her, taking in her paler-than-usual skin and the dark circles that had formed under her tired amber eyes.

"Come on Riza, no shame in admitting when you need somebody to lean on." No answer. Havoc pushed himself up slightly, getting a good look at Riza. Her face was insanely serene and peaceful, her breathing deep and even. She'd fallen asleep. Havoc chuckled. He felt bad about having to leave her on the couch, but he couldn't exactly carry her. So instead he stood, moving Riza so she was in more of a laying position (she _must_ have been tired if that didn't wake her up, she was usually a light sleeper). He went into her bedroom, grabbed a pillow and blanket off of her bed, and brought it back out to the living room. He slid the pillow under her head and covered her, smiling slightly as she stirred in her sleep, muttering something under her breath.

_Mustang should be here_, he reflected dryly as he switched off the living room light and started outside, locking the door behind him. _Mustang should have sat up with her and Maes last night, Mustang should be carrying her to bed because she fell asleep on the couch. This should all be Mustang_.

Havoc had never really agreed with the choices Riza had made. But it wasn't his place to question her, either.

_Havoc stared at Rebecca in disbelief, trying to process what the raven-haired woman had just told him. "Are we…talking about the same Riza Hawkeye here?"_

_Rebecca' response was to slap him upside the head. "Come on Havoc, this is serious. Riza's in a hard place right now, she needs your help. She handed in her resignation today, it'll reach Mustang by the end of the week, she wants to be out of the city and far away from headquarters before that happens. But you know her, she won't ask for the help on her own. So this is me. Coming to you. And begging you to help the woman you're always saying is like a sister to you. Please. Help her."_

_Havoc sighed. As if Rebecca even had to ask. "She can stay at my place until we find her a place of her own. I'm sure I can talk my parents into giving her a job if she needs one." It was quite the fall from grace, going from being a well respected sniper and first lieutenant in the military to working in a general store. But beggars couldn't be choosers._

_"I'll let her know." Rebecca smiled weakly. "She's going to kill me for going to you."_

_"We'll deal with her later." Havoc followed Rebecca to the front door. Two words were ringing over and over in his head._

_Hawkeye. Pregnant._

_"Is Mustang the father?" He asked as he opened the front door. Rebecca bit her lip._

_"She won't tell me," she admitted finally. "But come on, unless she was raped who else would it?" Havoc's eyes widened. He hadn't even _thought_ of that… "She wasn't raped. Mustang's the father, trust me."_

Havoc made his way down the street, frowning. There were times — plenty of times — that he had thought about calling Mustang and telling him everything. But he really had no proof that Riza's son was _Roy's_ — the child looked exactly Riza, no a hint of his father anywhere in him. And anyways, Riza would hate him for life if he ousted her secret. And Roy wouldn't react well to hearing, from his former second lieutenant, that his former first lieutenant had been pregnant with _his_ child and had run away, hiding it for six years.

Either way, Havoc would lose out. Riza would kill him, or Roy would.

He'd rather just let fate play it out. If Roy was meant to find out, he would find out.

Hopefully he was meant to find out.  


* * *

**Author's Note: **So...good, bad, oh my god why is this girl even _trying_? I'd really appreciate feedback. I'm not good at writing in-universe, so I hope I did all right. Review? Please? ~Sam


	2. The Thing About Coincidences

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — II **_

Alphonse Elric was grinning as he made his way through the small town his train had stopped in. He'd decided he'd walk the rest of the way to Risembool — it was only a couple of towns after all, he could handle it. It was great, being back in Amestris after spending so long in Xing studying Alkehistry. He couldn't wait to get back to Risembool to see Winry and — hopefully — his brother. But knowing Ed he was still out wandering the country. Completely incapable of sitting still for more than five seconds…

"Hiya!" Alphonse jumped and looked down at a voice that was coming from somewhere around his knee-level. He found himself gazing into a pair of stunningly familiar amber eyes. Attached to the eyes was a tiny, grinning blonde-haired boy.

"Hello…" Al said slowly, a bit bewildered. He was smiling, so there was no way he was lost…what did he want?'

"You're new in town, right? Are you a traveler?"

"Yeah, I'm just passing through, I live a couple towns away from here."

"Well you should come to our store before you go," the boy piped, pointing to a tiny storefront behind him. Al stared at him for a minute, then laughed. Advertising. Well the boy was good, at least. Al dug through his pocket, pulling out a few coins. He _could_ use a water bottle…

"Uncle Jean, I did it, I got a customer!" The boy called as he rushed back into the store, Al following him. After a moment a man in a wheelchair came wheeling out of the back. Al's mouth nearly hit the floor.

"_Lieutenant Havoc_?"

Jean Havoc's mouth dropped as well. After a moment he grinned. "Alphonse Elric. Well, well, it's been awhile, hasn't it?"

He wheeled himself out from around the counter, extending a hand to Al, who smiled as he took it, and they shook. "Uncle Jean do you know him?" The boy asked, pulling on Havoc's pants leg.

"He's an old friend of mine and your mom's," Havoc smiled, patting the boy's head. "Why don't you go play out back, your mother should be back soon with lunch."

"'Kay." And with that, the boy bolted out back. Havoc laughed as he watched the door swing shut.

"You'd never know yesterday he was laying in bed with a fever." He shook his head as he turned back to Alphonse, who was staring after the boy in awe.

"He…is he…?" The whole concept escaped Al. He couldn't even ask the question. Havoc smiled sadly, realizing what Al was struggling to ask.

"Is it that obvious?"

"It's the eyes," Al finally managed to say. "His eyes…they're the same as Lieutenant Hawkeye's."

"Just Hawkeye now. Or Riza. She retired from the military when she found out she was pregnant." Al shook his head, trying to process what he was being told. It just didn't seem possible.

_"Easy there, Lieutenant."_

_Ed and Al looked over their shoulders in unison, looking back at the military personnel who were following them. Lieutenant Hawkeye, it seemed, had collapsed. She was currently on her knees, pulling in a few deep breaths. Major Armstrong was standing over her, one hand on the injured lieutenant's shoulder. Colonel Mustang was kneeling on the ground next to his subordinate; he'd been using her as a guide, he'd probably gone down with her._

_"Are you okay?" Roy was saying, his voice laced with worry. He looped one arm around her waist, helping her stand. She leaned heavily on his chest, eyes closed._

_"I'm fine, sir," she mumbled, starting to pull away again. Roy stopped her at once, tightening his grip on her waist. "Really Colonel, I'm fine, you need to worry about yourself—"_

_"I'm not the one who can't _stand_, Lieutenant. Just let me help you."_

_Ed and Al exchanged looks. Lieutenant Hawkeye was really a stubborn woman…_

"Is it…I mean, is he General Mustang's son?" Al asked after a moment. Havoc's lips quirked into a smile.

"Well she won't actually come out and tell us, and he looks exactly like her so no real help there. But his name is Maes. What does that tell you?"

A little boy named after Roy Mustang's dead best friend. Yeah. He was definitely the general's child. "You mean…does _he_ know?"

Havoc shrugged. "Riza resigned from the military, if he ever found out _why_ she did it, I'm sure I would have heard. He doesn't even know where she is anymore. She came out here after she resigned and she's been here ever since."

Al frowned as his memories flashed back to his own mother, raising himself and Edward as a single parent after Hohenheim had left them. Looking back now, he realized how much stress she'd always been under, and how she always looked so tired, even if his innocent mind hadn't comprehended it _then_.

"She's raising him by herself?"

"Mostly. I help out as much as I can, but it's Hawkeye, she hates asking for help and she rarely accepts it when I offer, unless she's completely at the end of her rope. But you know what she's like." Al nodded slowly. "She's a surprisingly good mother though. Not the type you'd peg for motherhood, but she does it. Her and Maes are really close. He got his stubbornness and overly protective nature from her. It's really pretty cute, whenever he thinks somebody is treating her badly he'll jump in front of her like he's trying to protect her and of course she's trying to pull him back so he doesn't get into trouble…" Havoc chuckled, shaking his head. "They're quite a pair."

Al could imagine.

_Boom!_

A loud shriek echoed from the back room as an explosion rented the air, followed by the ground shaking, and Maes bolted out front again, instantly running to his "uncle" and hiding behind Havoc's chair. "What the hell was _that_?" Havoc asked, his head snapping around. It was a sign of how scared he was that Maes didn't scold Havoc for his use of language.

Al ran to the large front window, golden eyes snapping back and forth along the street, eventually landing on a point in the sky. He could see smoke rising into the cheery, cloudless blue oblivion. "I think something blew up," he said, pointing to the column of smoke. Havoc directed his gaze to where Al was pointing, his eyes widening.

"Oh no…"

Maes was thinking along the same lines as Havoc. "Is Mom okay?" He whimpered, peaking out from around Havoc's wheelchair. His amber eyes were filled with tears. Something pulled tight in Al's stomach.

_"Is Mom going to be okay?"_

_Edward looked down at his little brother, who was curled up in a tight ball against the wall to the left of their mother's bedroom door. "Of course she is," he said firmly, his fists clenching. "Mom's strong, she'll be fine Al, you'll see."_

_He patted his brother's blonde head, grinning confidently. But he couldn't lie. Not to Alphonse._

_Ed didn't believe his words any more than Al did_.

"I'll go look for her." Al was already halfway out the door, heading out into the crowded street, as he was speaking.

"Alphonse, wait—!"

Too late. He was already gone.

* * *

"Lieutenant Hawkeye!"

Well _there_ was a name Riza hadn't heard in awhile. She turned around, surprised, to find the speaker. Alphonse Elric was running towards her, looking immensely relieved to see that she was okay. Hayate, who had been standing at Riza's side, completely alert, barked happily at the sight of the man and ran forward, trying to jump on him.

"Alphonse, what're you—"

"Looking for you," Al answered her unfinished question as he skidded to a halt in front of her. Hayate barked again, running around Al, tackling his legs. "Lieutenant Havoc and Maes were worried, I told them I'd look for you." Riza's eyes widened at Al's easily spoken reference to her son.

"Alphonse, what are you doing here?"

"I was just passing through, I'm on my way back to Risembool — never mind that though, are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?"

She shook her head. Albeit she was a little shaken, the explosion had happened _way_ too close to the deli she'd been standing in for her to be comfortable. The street around her was littered with debris and broken glass from blown out storefront windows. She was beginning to wish she'd left Hayate at the store. Or at home. Anywhere but here. It was going to be a pain getting back with all this glass, and Hayate wasn't exactly a puppy anymore, she couldn't very well carry him…

"Do you know what happened?" Al asked as he looked around. He was staring at the large hole that had once been three stores — the explosion had taken certainly changed that.

"No, I don't." She knew one thing though; the three stores that had been destroyed had been two clothing stores and a flower shop. No kind of machinery in any of those that could have possibly caused an explosion like _this_.

Which left exactly one option, in Riza's military-oriented mind, at least.

Riza jumped as the sound of approaching cars reached her ears. The only people that would be allowed through now would be cops, firefighters, ambulances…

And the military.

"Damn it," Riza hissed under her breath, shifting to hide behind a corner as a long string of military issue cars came down the street. It would be just her luck if the one person she did _not_ want to see was in one of those cars — and he was in charge of Eastern command, so it was incredibly likely he was there…

Al looked over his shoulder at the blonde woman, raising an eyebrow when his eyes landed on her. "Lieutenant—?"

Hayate barked suddenly, and Riza grabbed his leash before he could run towards the people that were now pouring out of the cars. She tried very hard to ignore all the familiar faces, instead mentally retracing the quickest — and least glass-filled — route back to the store. From where she was at that moment she could probably cut through a nearby alley and come out on another street that would put her only one street away from the store. It would certainly be easier than trying to maneuver past the military while stepping around glass and trying to avoid poor Hayate's paws getting cut up…

"Are you okay, Lieutenant?" Al asked suddenly, dragging Riza out of her thoughts. "You looked like you were thinking hard about something, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Alphonse — and you don't have to call me Lieutenant, I resigned from the military." Riza looked down the street. There were plenty of people she could blend in with, she'd make it to the alley without a problem. "Sorry about this Hayate," she mumbled as she pulled on his leash, carefully leading him forward. She really needed to get back, she didn't doubt what Al had said about Havoc and Maes being worried…

"Are you going back to the store?" Al asked as Riza started forward. She nodded silently, not really paying attention to Al anymore. She just wanted to get away from all this. "I'll come with you."

If ever there was an answer that had surprised Riza. It made sense though. He probably wouldn't be getting out of town any time soon, after all.

It was a relief to get away from all the military personnel. Riza's heart had almost stopped when Maria Ross' eyes had momentarily landed on her; she'd ducked behind a much taller man, hiding herself from view until Maria had looked away again. Riza knew, through Rebecca, that Maria had replaced her as Roy's aide. The last thing he needed was someone working under Roy to see her.

"_Mom_!" Maes all but through himself at his mother as soon as she walked into the store. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly and burying his face in her pants leg. Havoc looked almost as relieved as the boy.

"Thanks Al."

"No problem." Al smiled as he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Riza kneel down in front of Maes, resting her hands on his shoulders and begin talking to him in a soft voice. Hayate was jumping around them, barking happily.

"So what happened?" Havoc asked, bringing Al's attention back to the wheelchair-bound man.

"I couldn't really tell," Al admitted. "I mean, it was an explosion, obviously, but it might have been an accident—"

"A flower shop and two clothing stores were blown up," Riza interrupted as she stood again, Maes wrapped in her arms; he buried his face in her neck, sniffling a bit. "Nothing in any of those stores could have possibly caused an explosion of _that_ magnitude."

"Unless Mr. Ramsey was experimenting with those exploding guard flowers again." Havoc's lips quirked into a grin at the mention of the loony old shop owner. Riza didn't smile. "Sounds like it was a set-up."

"Terrorists?" Alphonse asked, looking between the two former lieutenants. They exchanged looks, nodding slowly. It _did_ sound like the most plausible explanation…

"Well, might as well close up shop for the day. We're definitely not going to get any more business. Al you'll probably be stuck here until they finish investigating, they're not likely to let anyone leave town if there's a possible bomber on the loose. I have an extra room you're welcome to, if you'd like."

Al smiled weakly. He'd already guessed he'd be stuck in town for the duration of the investigation. "That'd be great Lieutenant. Thanks a lot."

"Of course. And you don't have to call me Lieutenant. Just Havoc is fine." The man redirected his gaze to Riza. "They're probably going to be coming around soon to question people, we might as well hang around until they get to us. If they come up to an empty store they'll be suspicious."

Riza sighed, looking down at Maes. She _really_ just wanted to go home; the idea of facing someone from the military was _not_ on her list of things she wanted to do. But Havoc was right. One way or another, they were going to question everybody eventually. She might as well get it over with now.

"Hey, do you guys have a phone I could use?" Alphonse asked suddenly. "I just want to call Winry and Granny, let them know I'll be a little later than I planned…and see if Brother is home yet."

"There's a phone in the back," Riza said, bending over to set Maes down. "Maes why don't you show him where the phone is."

"'Kay." Maes turned to Al, smiling. "Follow me."

And with that he bolted behind the counter, Alphonse following. Riza and Havoc exchanged another look.

"Is Mustang here?"

Riza nodded slowly, rubbing her eyes. "They sent his team, and I saw Rebecca with a few people from the range — extra protection. And then of course there were a bunch of MPs…standard for an investigation."

Havoc frowned. With a bunch of military people running around the town — many who knew Riza, and one who was desperate to find out why she'd left in the first place — it was really going to be hard for Riza to do anything or go anywhere. It made Havoc nervous.

He could only imagine how Riza felt.

* * *

Rebecca looked nervous. It was the first thing Roy noticed as they made their way down the streets of the small town. She kept shifting her eyes around, as if expecting to see something — or some_one_ — that she didn't want to see. And she was biting her lip. A lot.

"Something wrong, Lieutenant?" Rebecca jumped as Roy called her attention back to him.

"No sir," she mumbled, looking him straight in the eye. She was a very accomplished liar.

They were currently questioning the townspeople who had been around at the time of the explosion. It was a pain, really. Roy had split his team up, sending them down different streets in order to talk to store workers while the MPs dealt with people who had been on the street. So far there were eight people confirmed dead, and a handful of others with varying degrees of injuries.

"So much trouble," Roy muttered as they stepped into a clothing store. There were two women standing at the cash register.

Rebecca bit her lip as she watched Roy speak to the women. They were only a couple stores away from the convenience store, where Rebecca knew Riza was working that day. Would she be able to get away with hiding out back? Havoc would probably cover for her, of course, as long as she could stay in back and keep Hayate and Maes quiet, there was really no reason for Roy to ever know she was there…

In theory, anyways.

Roy was a bit surprised, when they stepped in to the convenience store, to see Havoc sitting in his wheelchair by the counter. That was nothing to compared to the surprise he felt when he saw another blonde-haired man sitting on the counter.

"Alphonse?"

Alphonse Elric smiled as he jumped off the counter, giving Roy a quick salute. "Hello General. It's been awhile."

Almost seven years. That was _awhile_ all right. "What are you doing here?" He'd fully expected the kid to be in Risembool with his brother and that automail mechanic.

"I was just passing through." Al shrugged. "I stopped in here to get something to drink, started talking and…well, now I think I'm stuck here."

"Unfortunately for the duration of the investigation, you probably will be." Roy regretted having to tell him that. No doubt he just wanted to get home. "You were here when the explosion happened, then?"

Al nodded silently. "We were just hanging around talking," Havoc spoke up. "Next thing we know _kaboom_, and the entire store is shaking."

"That seems to be the standard answer," Roy muttered, a bit annoyed. Of course, anybody who knew something about this probably wouldn't be too willing to come forth with the information. But still…

"Well we'll let you get back to what you were doing, then…"

As Roy turned to walk out, a loud bark caught his attention, and he whirled around just in time to see a _very_ familiar black and white dog shoot out from behind the counter. Moments later a tiny blonde blur followed the dog. "Hayate, _no_! Bad dog—"

Rebecca grabbed Hayate's collar right before he barreled into Roy; the raven-haired man caught her exchanging a look with Havoc right as they boy who had been chasing Hayate came to a halt next to the dog, tilting his head up to look at the adults around him. Something pulled tight in Roy's chest as he got a good look at the boy's bright, familiar amber eyes.

Roy stared at the boy for a long time before redirecting his gaze to the counter that the boy and dog had run out from behind. After a moment the door swung open, and one more person walked out, her eyes on the floor, her face twisted into an unreadable expression. Roy felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach.

"Riza?"

* * *

**Author's Note:** So…? What are we thinking? Yes, no, or (my personal favorite option) I'm waste of skin and should just out my conveniently-located-right-next-to-me-at-this-very-moment-window? Review and let me know, please! — Sam


	3. The Many Mysteries

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — III**_

It had been pure luck that Riza had wandered out back mere _seconds_ before Roy and Rebecca had come into the store. Maes had gone back there with Hayate and they were both too quiet for Riza's liking. It turned out they'd fallen asleep, Maes curled on Hayate as if he were a pillow. She'd just been about to go out front again when the bell attached to the door had rung, signaling that someone had come into the store. A second later a heart-wrenchingly familiar voice spoke.

"Alphonse?"

Riza bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut. Damn, it _would_ be him who came in to inquire about the damn explosion. She knew Havoc would cover for her though. She'd just hide out back here until Roy left, and it'd be all right…

"Hello General. It's been awhile."

"What are you doing here?"

"I was just passing through. I stopped in here to get something to drink, started talking and…well, now I think I'm stuck here."

"Unfortunately for the duration of the investigation, you probably will be. You were here when the explosion happened, then?"

"We were just hanging around talking," Havoc spoke up. "Next thing we know _kaboom_, and the entire store is shaking."

"That seems to be the standard answer," Roy sounded annoyed. Clearly they weren't getting anywhere with their investigation. "Well we'll let you get back to what you were doing, then…"

Riza's heart jumped into her throat. He was leaving. The fact both overjoyed and thoroughly depressed her. Her mind had been fighting with her heart the entire time with the idea of seeing Roy. On the one hand…she couldn't. On the other hand…_God_ did she want to.

It was really confusing.

But now he was leaving. There would no longer be an argument to have. Riza would have to be careful for the length of the investigation, but eventually the military would leave, and she would be safe. No problems.

In theory.

Hayate barked suddenly, surprising Riza; she hadn't realized he was awake. Before she could react or even try to stop him, the dog had bolted past her, head-butting the swinging door that led out front and running out. Riza was practically rooted where she stood as Maes (who had been rudely awoken by Hayate's sudden departure) ran out front as well, yelling, "Hayate, _no_! Bad dog—"

_Damn it, damn it, damn it_…

To say Riza was freaking out would have been an understatement. Roy was going to get a good look at Maes, he was going to see the boy's _eyes_ — the eyes that looked so much like hers…

Not that Riza hadn't always expected this day to come. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she'd known she couldn't hide forever. But _God_ she didn't want…

She kept her eyes on the floor as she pushed open the door, stepping out into the front.

Silence.

"Riza?"

The sound of her first name in _his_ voice (after hearing him refer to her as "Lieutenant" for so long) was enough on its own to break her. Her fingers curled into tight fists, digging into her skin. She refused to look up. She refused to face him.

Rebecca, Havoc, and Alphonse looked between Roy and Riza, waiting, though for what they weren't quite sure. Yelling? It seemed like the most logical route, considering Roy's personality. He'd be furious with his former lieutenant, of course, for the way she'd left, for not even saying goodbye…and what about Maes? Roy must have known the boy was _his_…

"Maes." The boy in question looked over his shoulder at his mother, his eyebrows pulling together. She looked upset, though what she could _possibly_ be upset about Maes couldn't begin to understand. "Take Hayate and go out back."

Maes made a face, clearly confused. "Why?" He demanded. He hated it when his mother tried to send him away without explaining anything.

"Just listen to her Maes," Rebecca said suddenly, pulling the boy's attention to her. Maes scowled a bit as he took Hayate's collar between both of his tiny hands.

"But Aunt 'Becca…"

"Come on bud," Havoc interrupted, resting a hand on Maes' shoulder. Maes looked very unhappy as he dragged Hayate out into the back room. Havoc followed, though not before stopping and muttering something to Riza that Roy couldn't hear. Riza shook her head to whatever Havoc had said, and the man sighed, pushing the door open as he wheeled himself into the back.

Rebecca and Alphonse were suddenly very aware that they were in a place they didn't belong. Rebecca mumbled something about standing guard before bolting outside, and after a moment Al followed Havoc's and Maes' example, running into the back room and leaving Roy and Riza out front. Alone. With one another.

Great.

Riza finally, _finally_ lifted her eyes to look at Roy. He was giving her a look of pure bewilderment, though shock and anger were also very visible in the depths of his onyx orbs. Anger. He was angry at her. Well of _course_ he was angry at her, what with the way she had left…Riza wasn't about to say he didn't have the right to be mad.

Roy stared at Riza for a long time. He had a million and one questions, ranging from _"What the hell are you doing here?"_ to _"Why didn't you ever say goodbye?"_

When she raised her head to look at Roy, and he saw her eyes, he decided the best question to start with would be, "That boy…is he…?"

_Is he your son?_ But the words sounded too unnatural for Roy to even comprehend. Riza Hawkeye with a child? He'd never believe it.

His entire reality felt like it had shattered as Riza slowly nodded her head, answering Roy's unfinished question — because of course, she knew where he had been going with it. She'd always had a kind of uncanny ability to read his mind.

"Is he why you left the military?"

Another nod, and Roy was beginning to get annoyed. "Do you know how to _speak_ or are you just going to keep nodding your head and hope I accept that as an answer and leave?"

Riza sighed, closing her eyes. She suddenly looked incredibly tired. It hurt Roy just to _look_ at her. "What kind of answers do you _want_?" She demanded finally. Her voice echoed in Roy's ears. He hadn't realized, until that moment, just how much he'd missed hearing it…

"I don't know, but…come on Riza, you have a _son_! How did that even happen?" Riza raised an eyebrow at him as if to say _what, you don't know?_ "I mean, I know how it happened, jeez, don't give me that look. Who…who's his father?"

Something unreadable flashed in Riza's eyes. It was gone almost a moment later. "_That_," she said firmly, "is _none_ of your business. The tone of her voice made it clear not to push the matter. Roy was no idiot; he let it go. "Now then, _General_, I'm fairly certain you have an explosion you're supposed to be investigating, don't you think you should get back to work on that? This isn't paperwork after all, you were always more than happy to do fieldwork, unless your procrastination tendencies have extended to _all_ areas of your job."

If ever there was a clear dismissal, that was it. Roy stared at her for a long time, finally shaking his head and turning away. "I'm sorry for disturbing you," he muttered before walking outside. Riza stared after him, fighting down the ridiculous urge to call him back. It was better for him to leave. For everyone involved.

Maybe if she kept telling herself that, she'd believe it.

Rebecca eyed the general with a bit of concern as they started down the street. Most of the stores on the street had already closed up, the workers and owners had gone home. They only found a few more people to talk to. It was clear to Rebecca that Roy's heart just wasn't in the task anymore. Seeing Riza — not to mention seeing Riza with a _son_ — had thrown him off.

"She named him Maes," Roy finally spoke as they made their way back to the explosion sight. Rebecca raised an eyebrow at him, a bit confused. His next question left her staggering. "Do you know who his father is?"

Rebecca nearly fell over. "You mean it isn't _you_?" She demanded loudly when she'd finally recollected herself. Roy stopped walking, whirling to stare at the bewildered lieutenant in disbelief.

"_Me_? What? No! We never…I mean, she was my _lieutenant_, of course we never…"

Rebecca forced her mouth to close, though she didn't succeed in wiping away the bafflement that ruled her features. Roy wasn't Maes' father? The thought had never struck her as a possibility.

But then…who the hell _was_?

* * *

"He _isn't_?"

To say Havoc was shocked was an understatement. He exchanged a baffled looked with Alphonse, who was sitting on the couch, then looked back at Rebecca, who just nodded. She'd escaped from Roy as soon as she'd been let off duty and run straight to Havoc's to fill them in on what she'd learned from Roy that day.

"He said they never slept together."

"But…then…I mean…" Havoc shook his head, struggling to keep his thoughts on one track. "Then who is it?"

Not for the first time, the thought crossed Rebecca's mind that maybe her friend had lied to her; maybe Riza really _had_ been raped. But the possibility just didn't seem likely. Riza was stubborn on a lot of fronts, but there was no way she wouldn't report being attacked, especially not when that left open the possibility of _other_ people getting hurt as well. Riza wouldn't want that on her conscience.

"Maybe General Mustang lied?" Al suggested after a moment. He didn't really sound like _he_ believed that possibility either.

"No way," Havoc said at once. "If Mustang had even an inkling that the kid might be his he'd be coming down full-force on Riza trying to get her to confess. He's not the kind of guy who would just leave someone to take care of _his_ responsibilities. If he thought he might be Maes' father, he wouldn't run away from it."

"God, this is insane," Rebecca mumbled, rubbing her temples. "Who else _is_ there besides Mustang? Riza's not exactly the kind of person who just jumps into bed with anybody. And she _certainly_ wouldn't do it without protection or something, she's too responsible for that. Not to mention she's in love with Mustang, she has been for as long as I've known her, she wouldn't _want_ to sleep with anybody else."

"Rebecca you're going to give yourself a headache if you keep thinking about it," Havoc informed the woman gently. Not that the whole thing wasn't driving _him_ insane as well. He didn't understand it anymore than Rebecca did. Havoc knew Riza and Roy had been together for a long time (Riza had told him she'd met Roy when she was twelve). There was no way two people who were together for _that_ long didn't develop _some_ kind of feelings for each other. And Havoc knew, just from the way that Roy used to look at Riza, that his feelings for the blonde woman were _far_ from brotherly, the way they were for Havoc. That really only left one possibility.

But Roy swore he'd never slept with Riza Hawkeye. Which left Havoc and Rebecca high and dry. Everything they'd believed for the last five years was a lie.

So what was left?

* * *

"Mom?"

Riza looked up from the book she'd been reading, a bit surprised to see Maes standing at the end of the hall that led to the bedrooms. "Didn't I put you to bed an hour ago?" She asked, a bit of humor leaking into her voice as she set aside her book and stood, careful not to step on the dog that had fallen asleep at her feet.

"Are you okay?" Maes asked, disregarding his mother's question. Riza raised an eyebrow at him. The question was completely out of left field.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"You looked really upset when that man came into the store earlier." Riza cringed. She hadn't realized Maes had noticed anything was wrong. "And you were sad all night. And I don't like it when you're sad."

Riza sighed. She'd forgotten how sensitive Maes was. He _always_ noticed when she upset about something. "Maes…come here." The boy did as he was told, crossing the room to where his mother was. Riza sat down on the couch, pulling Maes into her lap and letting him settle there. She ran her fingers through his messy hair as she spoke. "You know you don't have to worry about me so much, that's not your responsibility. I'm the one that's supposed to worry about _you_, remember?"

Maes frowned. "But I don't like it when you're sad," he protested unhappily, twisting around to look at Riza, who smiled a bit as she pressed her lips lightly against his forehead. Havoc was constantly complaining that Maes was far too much like his mother. Riza always replied with she didn't see how that was a bad thing. That was usually just a flippant answer that Riza supplied in order to annoy Havoc. The last thing she wanted was for Maes to be like _her_.

"But that's not something you should be worried about. What am I always telling you, Maes?"

"You're the parent and I'm the kid?" Riza smiled a bit, pushing a stubborn lock of hair out of Maes' eyes.

"Exactly. _I'm_ the parent. Leave the worrying to me, okay?"

"'Kay." Maes sighed. "But try not to be sad, okay? I don't like it when you're sad."

Riza laughed softly, hugging Maes, who buried his face in her shoulder, trying to mask a yawn. Riza wasn't fooled, of course.

"All right, it is _way_ past your bedtime. Why don't we try this tucking you in thing again? I clearly did it wrong last time if you managed to get out."

Maes giggled. Riza couldn't stop herself from smiling at the sound as she stood up, her arms still around him. She would never give this up for _anything_.

Not even if it meant having Roy back in her life.

* * *

_Roy shifted his eyes — God did it feel good to be able to _see_ again — to the currently sleeping form of his injured lieutenant. God, she looked so damn _small_ in that large bed, her too pale skin _barely_ managing to set her apart from the white that surrounded her._

_All at once unwarranted images of blood, dark and red and draining out of the blonde woman's tiny body at an alarming rate, flashed through Roy's mind. He shook his head furiously._

Don't think about it_._

_Not that the words helped. He knew that day — that particular event — would haunt his nightmares as frequently as Ishval for the rest of his life._

She almost died_._

_The thought had occurred to Roy many times before now, of course. As he'd held her in his arms after the Xingese girl had healed her, as he'd asked her, despite her injuries, if she was still capable of fighting, as she'd barked out coordinates and positions for him to aim at in order to force Father to use his philosopher's stone, and so many other times that Roy couldn't recall, all he'd been able to think about was that she'd almost died. He'd almost allowed her to die._

_If the chimeras hadn't shown up when they had, Roy was fairly certain he would have lost her. His oldest friend, his dearest subordinate…_

_The woman he loved._

_But she was safe now. They were all safe. It was over._

_And Roy would never have to worry about losing her again_.

Roy stared hard at the bottle of rum in front of him. Despite the fact that he'd been home for two hours, and staring at the bottle for an hour and a half of that, he had yet to actually pour himself a glass.

His mind seemed to determined to stay clear tonight. It wanted to think about everything he'd learned that day. Despite the fact that _he_ just wanted to forget.

_Rebecca swore she didn't know who the kid's father was…she seemed to think it was _me_, that's just insane though, there's no way…which doesn't help me with who it _could_ be, of course. Maybe it's Havoc, he seemed pretty chummy with the kid…nah, Riza wouldn't sleep with him, he's practically a brother to her. Maybe she had a boyfriend I don't know about? She _was_ always good at keeping her personal life and her work life separate, it's possible she was going out with someone and I just didn't know._

Somehow though, Roy very much so doubted that was true. Riza spent too much time working to have any kind of social life. And there was no way she would just jump into bed with a guy she met at a bar or something. That just wasn't the kind of person she was.

_Maybe she was raped_, a voice in the back of Roy's head spoke up. The thought struck Roy hard, but he shook it from his head almost instantly. No way. Even if that _had_ happened to Riza — and considering she always carried at _least_ two guns on her person at all times, and was constantly on alert to even the smallest of noises, Roy highly doubted it had — there was no way she would have let it go unreported. That would have been completely irresponsible of her — again, not at all Riza-like.

_Yeah, because resigning and running away and hiding for five years is _so_ Riza-like_, the voice spoke up again. Roy shook his head. Okay, so maybe it _was_ possible.

But Roy really doubted it. Which left him right back at square one. He had _nothing_.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Are you all as confused as Rebecca, Havoc, and Alphonse? Don't worry, I actually know what I'm doing, believe it or not XD All is revealed in chapter 5 — next chapter is a little bit of Roy-and-Maes-interaction, among other things. And a quick bad-ass, gun-wielding Riza-scene, because she wouldn't be Riza if she didn't use her gun at least once, right? Lol. Anyways review please! — Sam


	4. A Glimmer of Hope

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — IV**_

It wasn't _really_ necessary for Roy to return to the sight of the bombing the next day. Breda was overseeing the excavating process and Fuery was there examining everything they found that looked like it _might_ have played a role in explosion. MPs were still talking to people, though nothing had been turned up so far. Roy could have stayed at the office and started the mountain of paperwork that had accumulated in half a day of absence.

"Sir, may I ask why we're returning to the explosion site?" Maria asked as she turned the car onto the street that would lead them into town.

"There's something I want to check out," Roy said shortly. "I could have gone alone, you didn't need to drive me."

Maria didn't answer. They were silent until they arrived at the scene. Despite the fact that it was only a little after ten, people were already hard at work, and a crowd had accumulated in order to watch the efforts. Roy was surprised to see that among the crowd was Alphonse Elric and little Maes; they were standing near where Kain was, though the yellow caution tape separated them from the bespectacled man. That didn't stop the tiny boy from talking though.

"And what does that thing do?"

Kain chuckled as he patiently explained. "It picks up odd frequencies in the air, that way if another explosion were to happen, we'd know right before it took place."

"Oh. What about—"

"Making friends, Fuery?"

Fuery's head snapped up, his eyes widening in surprise at the sight of her superior. "General Mustang!" He instantly jumped up, snapping into a salute. "What are you doing here sir?"

"Just checking in on a few things." Roy shifted his eyes to look at Maes, surprised to find that the blonde boy was scowling at him.

"Maes?" Apparently Alphonse had seen the look as well. "What's wrong?"

"I don't like that man," Maes informed Al with a frown. "He made Mom sad yesterday."

_Ouch_. Roy tried not to let that hit him too hard. Riza's son hated him. Wonderful. "Come on Maes, he didn't mean to," Al tried to reassure the boy, resting a hand on his head and ruffling his hair. "I know the general, he's a really good guy, he would never intentionally hurt anybody." Al certainly seemed to have a lot of faith in his older brother's former superior. "Anyways we'd better get back, your mom might start to worry if we're gone for too long."

"'Kay." Maes cast a distrustful look at Roy before looking at Fuery. "Thanks for telling me about your machines Mister."

"Any time." Fuery smiled. The smile faded as Alphonse and Maes walked away. Suddenly Fuery looked a bit disturbed.

"Something wrong?" Maria asked the technician. Fuery shook his head slowly.

"Not really, just…did you see his _eyes_? They were exactly like Lieutenant Hawkeye's. It's kind of creepy."

Clearly it was dangerous to let Maes be seen by anybody Riza had once known. Everybody could recognize those eyes. It really wasn't a common eye color to begin with, and something about the shape of them just alerted people to the fact that they were _Riza's_ eyes. Roy couldn't blame Fuery for finding it a bit creepy.

At least no one was questioning him on the comment Maes had made about him making his mother sad. He decided to make his retreat before somebody decided to bring _that_ up.

"I need to follow up on a couple of things…I'll be back soon. Lieutenant Ross you can stay here, I won't be long."

He took off before anyone could question him.

* * *

"We're not going to have any customers today, are we?"

"I wouldn't count on it."

Havoc and Riza sighed in unison. They'd opened the store that day, as usual, unwilling to lose another day of business. But a fat lot of good it was going to do them if no one was daring to venture out of their house.

It was going to be one _long_ day.

"Hey, I know how we can pass the time," Havoc said suddenly, grinning. Riza rolled her eyes, knowing exactly where he was going with that.

"We are _not_ playing Truth or Dare."

"Not what I was going to suggest." Riza raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh really? Than pray-tell, what _were _you going to say?"

"I was going to say you can explain to me how Mustang can be Maes' father when Mustang's under the impression that you two never slept together."

Riza didn't even bother asking how Havoc knew _that_. No doubt Rebecca had grilled Roy after they'd left the store. "Well _I'm_ not the one who told you he was Maes' father, you just assumed that, and if he says we never slept together then obviously we didn't, therefore you'd have to conclude that he _isn't_ Maes' father, don't you think?"

"Oh come on!" Havoc groaned unhappily. "Who the hell _else_ could it be?" Riza didn't answer. "Fine, then I'm going to start listing men and see what kind of reaction I get. Falman." Riza shuddered. "Fuery." Riza rolled her eyes. "Breda." Another shudder. "Broch." Eye roll. "Armstrong." The horrified look Riza gave Havoc trumped every horrified look in the history of horrified looks. "Right, we're going to forget I ever said that one. Um…seriously Riza, come on, I'm running out of people here."

"Then stop guessing."

"Then tell me who Maes' father is!"

"Or what? You'll fire me?" Havoc didn't answer. "You can't run this place by yourself and your parents are in Central running their own store, they won't be able to come here and help you. Unless you can find someone to replace me you're stuck with me here whether you like it or not."

"You know I don't mind having you here," Havoc mumbled. "But God Riza, what are you going to do when _Maes_ starts asking about his father — because you know it's coming eventually. Don't you think he deserves something a little better than 'you're better off not knowing' or 'it doesn't matter'?"

Of course he did. Except Riza didn't even know where to _begin_. Havoc sighed when Riza didn't respond, and finally ventured to ask the question that had been hovering in the back of his mind for over five years. "You…weren't raped, were you?"

Riza's head snapped up, her wide, surprise-filled eyes meeting Havoc's. "What? No! Of course not!"

She sounded truly shocked that Havoc had come to such a conclusion. He had a feeling she wasn't lying.

"Then who—"

Havoc cut his question off as the front door opened, belling jingling merrily. If only it was a customer that had come to distract them. "Hi Mom!" Maes chirped as he ran around the counter, throwing his arms around Riza's waist and hugging her tightly. Riza had never in her life been so grateful to see her son.

"Hey Maes. You and Alphonse have a good walk?"

"Ahuh, we went down to where the 'splosion was, and there was this really nice guy there with all these radios and stuff and he told me what all of them did!"

"Fuery," Havoc and Riza said in one voice. Al nodded a confirmation, though it hadn't really been a question.

"And that mean guy that was here yesterday with Aunt 'Becca was there too, and he…"

The rest of Maes' words were lost in the sudden din that filled Riza's ears. Roy was there too. He was back in town. There was no need for him to have come back again, he should have been at the office doing all the paperwork he'd missed yesterday, not to mention the work that would be required for this…

Havoc didn't miss the parade of emotions that flitted across Riza's face when Maes mentioned "that mean guy." She was probably thinking the same thing Havoc was — that there was only one reason why Roy would have come back today.

* * *

_Damn it…I think I'm lost_.

Roy turned in a slow circle. There was absolutely _nothing_ familiar about _any_ of the buildings he was currently surrounded by. And what was worse was that the street was _completely_ empty — nobody had opened their stores in the aftermath of the explosion. So there was nobody Roy could ask for directions. And even if there was, what could he say? He didn't exactly know the name of the store he was looking for. Maybe he could drop Riza's or Havoc's names and see what came of that, but this didn't really seem like the kind of town where everyone knew everyone else…

_Wham!_

Something hard connected with the back of Roy's head, and he stumbled forward, stars bursting to life before his eyes.

_What the…_

"What do you think you're doing here? Get the hell out of this town!"

Roy whirled around, one hand flying to the injured area of his head, and he found himself facing a rather angry and slightly crazed looking man. He was wearing tattered clothes; he probably lived on the streets, Roy concluded as he stared the man down. "What, is something wrong with your hearing?" The man demanded when Roy didn't respond; his fingers tightened around the rock he was gripping in his hand. There were small spots of blood on said rock. Roy realized it was _his_ blood as he pulled his hand away from his head and saw it covered in the red substance. "Nobody wants you military people here, just _get out_!"

Roy took a step back as the man darted forward, clearly intent on attacking again. Roy clapped his hands together quickly; he wouldn't _kill_ the man of course, just burn him enough to teach him a lesson and send him packing.

_Bang!_

Roy jumped at the sound of the gun. Half a second later a bullet embedded itself in the ground between Roy and his attacker. Roy's head snapped around; he wasn't surprised to see Riza standing behind him, her gun level with the ground. "I suggest you take a step back, Larry." Her voice was cold and toneless. "The next bullet in this gun is marked for a very painful part of your body otherwise."

The man narrowed his eyes at Riza, growling something under his breath. "You need to learn how to mind your own business Hawkeye," he finally snarled, his eyes filled with fury. "Your little tendency to play the hero is going to get you in trouble some day."

Riza's response was to raise the gun so it was pointing at the man's crotch. Finally he turned and stormed away.

Riza shifted her eyes to look at Roy, cursing herself silently. Why the hell had she gotten involved, Roy could have handled that on his own. There'd been absolutely no reason for her to even pull out her gun.

"Thank you."

Roy's low voice cut through Riza's angry musings. "Sure," she mumbled, stowing the gun back in her purse. Her eyes moved down to look at Roy's hands; she was surprised to see they were smeared with blood. "You're bleeding." She cursed her voice for twisting as she spoke the two words. Roy looked down at his hands.

"Oh. Yeah. That guy hit from behind with a rock, guess he got me pretty good…" Roy's voice drifted off as Riza walked towards him, going around so she was standing behind him.

"I don't think you'll need stitches," she said after a moment. "I'll have to clean it up though, get a better look at it before I can say for sure."

"Yeah, sure — wait, what?"

Riza sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Just follow me," she muttered, again cursing herself. He could have just gone back to headquarters and gone to the infirmary to get his head looked at, it certainly wasn't a life-threatening injury.

But something about seeing him bleed…

"Stay close to me. People don't receive the military well in this town. They were wronged too many times in the past to be forgiving."

Roy snorted as they started down the street. "I'm guessing they don't know about yours and Havoc's former military statuses then, do they?"

Riza just shook her head.

Havoc and Alphonse were surprised, to say the least, when Riza walked back into the store with Roy tailing her. "We send her out to find a place that was open for lunch, and she comes back with her former superior. I'm not quite sure how that works, but okay."

Maes darted out from the back, his grin falling from his face when he saw who had accompanied his mother back to the store. "Hey what's the mean guy doing here?" He demanded unhappily.

"Maes!" Riza scolded her son loudly, surprising everyone. Maes' eyes snapped to look at his mother, confusion spreading across his features. "We do _not_ talk about other people that way, especially not when they're standing _right here_. Understand?" Maes nodded suddenly. "Good. Now apologize."

"Sorry sir," Maes muttered, kicking the floor.

"Good. Go out back and get the first aid kit, it should be where we left it after Uncle Jean tried to fix the light."

"'Kay." Maes turned and ran into the back room. Havoc raised an eyebrow at Riza as she led Roy around the counter, shoving him into the chair they kept back there. His confusion turned to surprise when he saw the gash on the back of Roy's head.

"What the hell happened?"

"Crazy Larry," Riza replied shortly. Havoc snorted, clearly amused by this.

"Who's Crazy Larry?" Alphonse asked as Maes came back out front.

"Crazy Larry." The boy giggled as he handed the first aid kit to Riza, who smiled as she set it down on the counter and opened it, pulling out the small bottle of alcohol and a cloth.

"_Who's_ Crazy Larry?" Roy repeated Al's question.

"This crazy old guy who lives on the streets," Havoc said with a small grin. "Walking around in a military uniform makes you a walking target to him. He barely likes people as it is."

"He yells at pigeons," Maes added with a laugh. Before Roy could say anything, a damp cloth touched the area around his wound, surprising him.

"Head wounds bleed a lot," Riza muttered, sounding a bit annoyed. "I really don't think you're going to need stitches, I'm not exactly a doctor though, you might want to get a second opinion."

"I trust you," Roy assured her as she started bandaging the gash. It wasn't lost on him that_ she_ had been the one who had fixed all of the various injuries he'd received while studying under her father. She was as good as any doctor, in his opinion.

The merry jingle of the bell over the front door drew everybody's attention to the front in hopes of actually seeing a customer. Hearts fell when they realized it was Maria Ross. "Um…" The poor lieutenant looked bewildered as she shifted her eyes between Roy, Riza (who was just finishing bandaging the former's head), Havoc, Alphonse, and Maes. "I…heard a gunshot, I was worried…"

"Sorry Lieutenant," Roy stood with a grimace, rubbing the back of his head. "I got into a bit of a scuffle, nothing to be concerned about. Everything's fine."

"Um…right…" Riza would have laughed at the look on Maria's face, if she wasn't in such a bad mood. "Oh, um, Lieutenant Havoc, Lieutenant Hawkeye, hello—" She saluted the two quickly. They both waved her off, mumbling something about not being lieutenants anymore.

"I'm hungry," Maes spoke up suddenly, breaking the incredibly awkward silence. He had his elbows on the counter, supporting him so his feet dangled a couple inches off the ground.

"That's right, we never got lunch," Havoc said thoughtfully.

"If you can find an open store besides this one, all the power to you," Riza said as she packed everything back in the first aid kit, storing it under the counter. Havoc sighed.

"Fine, point taken, we're closing. Take Maes home and feed him before he starves."

"Yay!" Maes cheered happily as his feet connected with the ground again; he ran over to his mother, wrapping both hands around her arm and swinging happily. "Lezgo, lezgo!"

"All right, all right." Riza laughed quietly as she patted the boy's head with her free hand. "Lets get going."

Riza seemed very determined not to look at Roy as she and Maes left. "Bye Uncle Jean, bye Al, bye—!" He cut himself off abruptly when he realized he didn't know Roy's name. "Um…bye Mr. …um…"

Roy chuckled at the boy's confusion. "You can call me Roy," he told the child gently. Maes grinned.

"Bye Roy!"

It wasn't until Riza had left the store and was halfway home did she realize that Roy had given Maes permission to call him by his first name. As if he planned on being around a lot.

_Oh this just _isn't_ going to work_…

"Lieutenant Hawkeye is why you came back today, isn't she?" Maria asked as they made their way back towards the blast sight. Roy didn't answer. "That little boy looked a lot like her…is he her son?"

"Yeah," Roy mumbled, not surprised that Maria had come to such a conclusion. Maria hesitated just long enough before speaking again for Roy to know what she was going to ask next. "I don't know who his father is."

"Oh." Maria shifted her eyes back to concrete beneath their feet. "Is he why she left the military?"

"One can only assume," Roy responded shortly. He really didn't want to talk about Riza. Maria seemed able to pick up on hints, at least. She dropped the subject, letting them lapse back into silence. "Lieutenant Ross?"

"Yes General?"

"It'd be better for everyone involved if you didn't mention to anyone that you saw Hawkeye today."

"Yes, sir." Maria was clearly baffled by this, though she didn't question it. Roy knew she wouldn't.

It really shouldn't have bothered him so much that Maes Hawkeye hated him. He _had_ upset the kid's mother after all, and obviously the boy had inherited his mother's overprotective nature. But something about the idea of the child hating him…it just _bothered_ him.

At least Riza seemed halfway willing to speak to him. She'd helped him today, after all. Of course that may have just been her own overprotective nature kicking in. But still, she hadn't walked away.

It was a slight glimmer of hope. In Roy's eyes, at least.

* * *

**Author's Note: **All is revealed next chapter. Review please! — Sam


	5. What Happened Before

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — V**_

"Yum!" Maes cheered as his mother set his grilled cheese down in front of him. "Thanks Mom!"

Riza smiled, patting the boy's head as she watched him dig into his sandwich. He was easy to please, at least…

"Hey Mom?" Riza, who had been heading into the living room to fold laundry, stopped and looked over her shoulder at Maes, who was watching her with curious eyes. "Who's Roy?"

Riza bit her lip, sighing silently. She couldn't say she hadn't expected him to ask eventually… "He's just an old friend." As if he'd really let her leave it at that.

"Aren't people supposed to be _happy_ when they see friends? When you saw Roy yesterday you looked really sad, and you looked sad today too when you were fixing his head."

Maes was officially _way_ too intuitive for his own good. It was scary that he was almost exactly like his namesake. "It's a long story, kiddo. I'll tell you when you're older, okay?"

Maes sighed, annoyed. "You _always_ say that. I can't wait until I turn six."

Riza laughed quietly. Sometimes she would have _loved_ to be six again. To go back to a time when her mother was alive and her father was still her father and she had no scars and no tattoo on her back…and there was no Roy…

It really sounded like such a wonderful time.

_"Sh…don't tell Hawkeye."_

_Riza stared at her commanding officer, disbelief etched into her features. "Sir…I _am_ Hawkeye."_

_Roy blinked a couple of times, his eyes unnaturally bright. Suddenly his head snapped back and forth, as if he were looking for something. "What? Where's Hawkeye?"_

_Riza sighed, twirling her fingers around a strand of her hair. Maybe if she put it up he'd actually recognize her…though looking at his bar tab for the night, she sincerely doubted it. "Sir, just pay the bartender so I can get you home."_

_"I don't wanna go home." God he sounded like such a child. Riza looked at the bartender, who was giving her a look that clearly said "get him the hell out of here."_

_"You're paying me back for this," she informed the drunk man as she pulled some money out of her purse, setting it down on the counter. "That should cover his tab, keep the change."_

_Bartender taken care of, Riza turned back to Roy, who was holding his hand up in front of his face and examining his palm with some interest. "Where'd dis come from?" He asked, pointing to the light scar in the middle of the palm. He held up his other hand, then laughed. "Hey, there's one on this hand too! What is it?"_

_Riza slapped her forehead, closing her eyes and shaking her head. She really hoped this wasn't how he planned on spending _every_ anniversary of Hughes' death. Getting a phone call at two in the morning to pick up her drunk superior wasn't exactly her idea of a great time. "All right, come on." She grabbed his wrist, dragging him off the bar stool. He stumbled forward, falling against Riza and laughing._

_"Weeee…"_

_It was a miracle that she managed to get him outside without incident. "Hey, hey, who're you again?"_

_Riza resisted the urge to hit her head against something hard. "Hawkeye. I'm _Hawkeye_."_

_"You are noooooot," Roy whined, sounding strangely unhappy. "You don't look at anything like _my_ Hawkeye."_

_Riza rolled her eyes. For the love of…wait. "_Your_ Hawkeye?" She repeated in disbelief._

_"Ahuh." Roy nodded happily. "See, _my_ Hawkeye wears her hair up all the time, and she's really strict 'n' mean 'n' she yells me all the time."_

_"Good to know that's what you think of me sir." Not that she could _really_ hold it against him, he _was_ drunk after all…_

_Roy frowned suddenly as his drunken thoughts took a new direction. "My Hawkeye wouldn't come pick me up at a bar," he said quietly, surprising Riza a bit. "She's mad at me."_

_"What?" Riza blinked, wondering where the hell _that_ had come from. "What do you mean?"_

_"Hawkeye's mad at me."_

_"I got _that_. What makes you think that though?" Riza ran through a quick mental list of everything she'd done since they'd returned to the East. She was pretty sure she hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, what would make Roy think…?_

_"'Cause I was stupid, 'n' I did something stupid, 'n' I got her hurt, 'n' now she hates me," Roy's response brought Riza back to reality. She turned her head to stare at him. Okay, something stupid…that would probably be trying to kill Envy for vengeance. Her getting hurt…well that was a no-brainer. But where'd he get that it was _his_ fault? And not to mention…_

_"Why in the world would I _hate_ you?"_

_Roy tilted his head at Riza, confused. "I don't know, I don't even _know_ you. I was talking about Hawkeye."_

_Oh for the love of God… "Fine. Why would _Hawkeye_ hate you?"_

_"'Cause I got her hurt."_

_"No, you didn't," Riza argued at once._

_"How do you know?"_

_"I just do. It wasn't your fault she got hurt. She followed you because she wanted to, anything that happened to her was her own fault, you had nothing to do with it."_

_"She followed me because I asked her to," Roy mumbled, suddenly sounding put down. "She always does whatever I ask her to, it's not fair to her, I should just stop asking, but I never do. Sometimes I wish she'd just say no and put me out of my misery, she could do so much better than following _me_ for the rest of her life."_

_They'd finally arrived at Roy's apartment building. Riza sighed as she dragged him inside, grateful to see that the elevator was working. Dragging him up five flights of stairs would have been torture._

_"I'm sure she doesn't feel that way, General," Riza said quietly as she pushed the button for the elevator a bit harder than necessary; her shoulder (which was still healing from when Envy had attacked her) was really beginning to hurt._

_"How would you know?"_

_Riza repeated her answer from earlier as the elevator door opened: "I just do."_

_One surprisingly quiet elevator ride later they were standing outside of Roy's apartment. Riza dug through the pockets of his coat, finding his key and unlocking the door, letting them both inside. Riza deposited Roy on the couch, rubbing her shoulder and staring down at Roy, who was staring at the ceiling. After a moment his cloudy eyes focused on her._

_"You're a good listener."_

_"I've been told."_

_"You know you look a lot like Hawkeye…" Riza rolled her eyes. Part of her hoped he remembered this conversation in the morning so she could tease him about it. A bigger part hoped he forgot — he'd be mortified if he ever knew how much he'd revealed to her in his drunken state. "I don't like it when Hawkeye's mad at me," he mumbled after a moment, looking at the floor._

_"Why, don't like getting yelled at?" Not that she really yelled a lot, unless he was procrastinating on his paperwork…and that wasn't really her being mad, just her being aggravated by his lazy tendencies, it was completely different—_

_"No, she doesn't talk to me when she's mad at me. I don't like her not talking to me. I like her a lot, when she doesn't talk to me it makes me sad."_

Good lord, he sounds like he's five_— Riza stopped mid thought as she realized what Roy had just said. "What do you mean you 'like her a lot'?" She demanded against her better judgment. Whatever Roy was about to say, she was sure it wouldn't do any good for her poor, screwed up mentality. She was a masochist though. And she had to know…_

_"Do you promise not to tell Hawkeye?" Riza nodded, feeling a bit bad that she was tricking him. Hopefully he wouldn't remember in the morning… "I looooove Hawkeye." Riza stiffened a bit. "I reeeeeally love her, I always have. She doesn't love me though. Iz sad."_

_"Wh…Why do you think she doesn't love you?" Everything in Riza was screaming at her to stop with this ridiculous line of questioning. She was just going to get hurt, and she knew it. She couldn't stop herself though._

_"Why would she? I'm not a good person, I've done too many terrible things. How could she ever love me? And I hurt her…" Roy's voice drifted off as he allowed his drunken mind to take him away._

_"I…sir…" Riza shook her head quickly. _Damn it, he's drunk, don't read too much into what he's saying. Moron._ "Come on." She grabbed his arm, dragging him up and letting him lean on her again. "Lets just get you to bed."_

_How she managed to maneuver him to his bedroom, she'd never understand. But somehow she got him in there. "Okay, sit down and take your shoes off—"_

_Roy tried to do both at the same time. The result was him stumbling back, trying to grab Riza for support, and both of them falling onto the bed, Riza landing on top of Roy. Pain burned through her shoulder where he'd grabbed her. "Damn it," she hissed, rolling off of Roy and sitting up, gripping her shoulder tightly. Roy sat up as well, looking a bit concerned._

_"Whaz wrong?"_

_"Nothing," Riza muttered. "Just get your shoes off and get into bed, I'm not leaving until I know you're asleep and can't hurt yourself anymore…"_

_Her voice drifted off as Roy carefully moved her hand and shifted her coat and shirt away so her shoulder was exposed. He ran a finger along the scar that resided there. "That looks like it hurts."_

_"It's fine." Riza suppressed a shiver as his finger moved along her shoulder, to the bright pink scar along her neck._

_"You have a lot of scars."_

_"Y-Yeah," Riza stuttered, a bit put off. She pulled in a deep breath, trying to ignore the feeling of his fingers against her mutilated skin. She was having a hard time remembering how to breathe. "Sir…General…Mustang…" Articulating words seemed to be outside of her realm of abilities at that moment. "Roy, stop—"_

_"Why?" Roy mumbled as he pressed his lips lightly against her neck. And for the life of her, Riza couldn't come up with answer. She twisted around as Roy pulled away from her, and before she'd had time to think, their lips had met._

Stop, stop, stop_! Her mind screamed at her as her fingers worked around the buttons of his coat, shoving the coat off of him. His hands found the edge of her shirt, pulling it over her head. This was _such_ a bad idea on _so_ many levels…_

_But reason had gone out the window_.

"Mom?"

Riza looked up from the shirt she'd been staring at for the last ten minutes. "Sorry Maes, what?"

"I'm done eating, can I go out and play with Hayate?" Riza smiled weakly.

"Sure, go ahead. I'll be out in a few, I just have to finish folding this stuff, okay?"

"'Kay." Maes nodded happily as he ran over to the front door, slipped his shoes on, and ran outside. Riza stared after him, her smile fading as she went back to the laundry she'd been trying to fold.

She hadn't quite known how to react when Roy had walked into the office the next morning — nearly two hours late — nursing a terrible hangover and saying he didn't even remember how he got home the night before. On the one hand, she'd been relieved. She'd left after Roy had fallen asleep the night before in hopes that he wouldn't realize something had happened. But somehow…the idea of him not remembering what had happened between them had been heart-breaking.

It had hurt even more a month and a half later when she found out she was pregnant.

Not that Riza would have changed any of it. Or even _considered_ changing it. She loved Maes too much, and she loved the quiet life they'd made for themselves, far away from the military and everything that had haunted Riza for half her life. It was just her and her little boy — and of course, two doting godparents that enjoyed spoiling Maes and annoying the hell out of Riza.

Maes shrieked suddenly, jarring Riza out of her thoughts. It wasn't a distressed shriek, so she was sure she had nothing to worry about, but that didn't stop her from jumping up and running to the window. She wasn't surprised to see Maes pinned to the ground by Hayate; the large dog was licking the boy's face. Riza couldn't stop herself from smiling at the sight.

No. She wouldn't change anything.

* * *

"Lieutenant Catalina."

Rebecca looked away from the target she'd been focusing her rifle on, turning her head up to look at Roy Mustang, who was standing over her, looking purely and utterly defeated. The expression bewildered Rebecca just a bit.

"Hey General." Rebecca smirked as she pushed herself up. "Don't see _you_ down here that often. Decided to go ahead and give a good old-fashioned gun a try?"

"Decided to go ahead and give talking to a stubborn-ass lieutenant a try is more like it."

Rebecca laughed dryly. "This stubborn-ass lieutenant has a rifle in her hands sir. I'd watch what I say if I were you. So what do you want to talk about?"

"What do you think?"

Rebecca's smile faded instantly. She knew what he was there for. "Hang on a minute." She sighed, heading into the locker room. She stowed her rifle away and grabbed her jacket, tossing it over her shoulder and heading back out to where Roy was still waiting for her. "Come on."

Roy followed Rebecca to the currently empty office area. She closed the door as soon as he walked in, locking it behind her. "That desperate for privacy, Catalina?"

"Riza went through a lot of trouble to be able to disappear, I just don't want anyone to walk in and possibly recognize her name. She wants to be left alone."

"Letting a kid that looks exactly like her run around a town currently crawling with military isn't exactly the best route of action if she's trying to stay hidden. Maes was talking to Fuery today, he recognized the eyes instantly."

"Yeah, Maes' eyes are definitely a curse," Rebecca admitted with a sigh. "Anyways, you said something about wanting to talk. I'm guessing you have more questions. And by the way, what happened to your head?"

"Ever heard of a guy named Crazy Larry?"

Rebecca burst out laughing. "Aaaww, you met Crazy Larry? I'm surprised, Maria's generally a good bodyguard, how'd she let that guy slip past her?"

"I left Maria at the blast site, I was…trying to find Riza." He felt like he was admitting to a terrible crime. Rebecca raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't speak. "I got lucky, she happened to be out…I don't know, trying to find a place to get lunch or something."

"She the one that fixed up your head?" Roy nodded silently. "Shoulda known. Riza isn't very good at minding her own business, is she?" Roy didn't know what to say to that. "You didn't come here to talk about Crazy Larry, General. What's up?"

Roy ran a hand through his hair. He really only had _one_ question. But he was sure it would lead to others. "Why did she leave the military? I mean, there are plenty of people in the military who have families. Why did she think she had to resign?"

"Well there aren't many _women_ in the military who have families," Rebecca pointed out. "Besides, she was a bit…oh, what's the word I'm looking for…she was completely freaked out. It was half the reason I helped her run away — God knows I never agreed with it."

Roy couldn't comprehend it. The idea of Riza — calm, cool, composed Riza — freaking out over anything was an image that escaped him. "What do you mean?"

Rebecca sighed as she recalled the memory. Even to this day it hurt just to think about it.

_"Come on Riza, open up!" Rebecca called as she knocked her knuckles against Riza's apartment door. Nobody had seen the blonde woman in almost a week. She'd put in for a couple of days of sick leave and that was the last anybody had had any contact with her. She wasn't answering the phone, and she'd ignored everyone that had come to her door._

_Rebecca wasn't going to let her friend ignore_ her_ though. "Fine Riza," she muttered, reaching a hand down to the doorknob. "If this door isn't unlocked then I'm shooting the lock off…"_

_Luckily it didn't come to that. The door gave way easily under Rebecca's hand. The raven-haired woman made a face as she made her way into the apartment, her eyes looking around. It was mostly dark, save for the light leaking in through the windows from the streetlamps. "Riza?" Rebecca called quietly, looking around. Her eyes landed on a shadowy figure curled up on the couch. Rebecca walked over to the side table, turning the lamp on and revealing Riza, who was curled up in the corner of the couch, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, her chin resting on her knees. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants and an overly baggy sweatshirt that Rebecca vaguely recognized — she'd had it when they'd been at the military academy too, though Riza had never explained its origins._

_"Riza…what the hell?"_

_Riza didn't raise her eyes to look at her best friend; she just continued to stare at the floor, her gaze distant and her amber orbs cloudy. Rebecca was starting to get a little scared; she sat down on the couch next to Riza, resting a hand on her friend's shoulder. Riza shivered a bit when Rebecca's hand made contact._

_Yup. Rebecca was definitely scared. "Come on Riza, talk to me, what's going on?" Rebecca was relieved when she finally got a reaction, even if it _was_ just Riza just shaking her head. "You've been out of work all week, nobody's talked to you, Mustang's going out of his mind. What's up with you?"_

_"Rebecca there's a reason I haven't been taking phone calls," Riza mumbled, closing her eyes and pulling in a deep breath._

_"Yeah, and I'm here to find out why," Rebecca shot back at once. "Why haven't you been coming in to work?"_

_"I've been sick."_

_Taking in the pallor of Riza's skin, and the dark circles that stood out in stark contrast under her eyes, Rebecca really didn't doubt that. Riza wasn't the kind of person who let being sick get in the way of her work though. Rebecca still remembered the time she tried to work with pneumonia, and ended up collapsing in the break room._

_"You've never considered that a reason for missing work before. And I highly doubt you've changed your ideals since the last time you were sick." Riza didn't answer. Rebecca sighed, moving her hand from Rebecca's shoulder and swiping a few strands of blonde hair from her friend's face. "Come on Ri, I'm really worried, everybody is. Just talk to me, you know you can tell me anythi—"_

_"I'm pregnant."_

_Rebecca stopped mid-word, her mouth hanging open. She stared at Riza for a long time, her eyes wide. "You…you're…what did you just say?" She finally managed to choke out. Riza reached over to the side table on her right, not bothering to open her eyes as she grabbed a folded piece of paper and handed it to Rebecca. The woman unfolded it, her dark eyes taking in the results of blood tests Riza had gotten done at the beginning of the week. "You're…pregnant."_

_"Very good Rebecca." The biting sarcasm in Riza's voice fell entirely flat. Rebecca wasn't sure what to say at this point._

_"Oh…my God." Rebecca shook her head a few times, trying to process this amazing information. "You…I mean…_who_?"_

_Riza knew what Rebecca was asking. She played dumb anyways. "Who what?"_

_"Don't play dumb with me Riza Hawkeye. Who's the father?" Rebecca's eyes widened even more (as if that was possible) as a new thought struck her. "Oh my God. It's Mustang, isn't it?" No reaction. "Oh I knew it, you and Mustang are—"_

_"It's not Mustang," Riza interrupted, sounding a bit annoyed._

_"Then who is it?" Rebecca demanded at once. Riza just shook her head._

_"I can't tell you."_

_"Why not?" Rebecca paused for half a second. "Wait, you weren't raped, were you?"_

_For the first time, Riza's eyes flashed with some sort of life. "Of course not. I know who the father is, and it was completely consensual. Did you ever stop to think maybe I just don't _want_ to tell you who the father is?"_

_Well Rebecca certainly wasn't about to let this go. But she wasn't going to be getting the answer she wanted tonight. So she'd move on. "So what, you've just been sitting in your apartment all week? Why haven't you been going to work?"_

_Riza reached over to the side table again, grabbing another folded up piece of paper and handing it to Rebecca, who took it and promptly unfolded it, her eyes skimming the words quickly. Said eyes grew wider still as she read. "This is a resignation letter."_

_"Very good Rebecca."_

_"You're resigning from the military."_

_"I don't know." Riza huffed in frustration as she unwound her arms from around her legs and jumped up, rubbing her eyes. "I don't know what I'm going to do Rebecca."_

_Rebecca stood as well, resting a hand on her obviously aggravated friend's shoulder. "Let me in Riza. What're you thinking?"_

_Riza sighed, shaking her head slowly. "I just…I've been going back and forth in my head all week, trying to figure this out…Rebecca I _can't_ stay in the military if I'm going to have this child. Things have become a lot less dangerous since General Grumman was instated as Fuehrer, but that doesn't mean the job is completely without danger. And I could never…I _know_ what it's like to lose a parent when you're too young to understand. I could never put another child through that kind of pain. And it'd be worse, if I were to die…at least when _my_ mother died I still had my father — mostly. If I died, my child would have no one."_

_"What about the father?" Rebecca demanded. Riza just shook her head. "Wait a minute, does _he_ know you're pregnant?" Another headshake. "Riza! What the hell—?"  
_

_"I can't tell him Rebecca. It's complicated."_

_"I'll try to keep up," Rebecca said sarcastically. Riza didn't respond for a long time._

_"I just can't. Please stop asking."_

_As if that would happen. Again though, Rebecca let it go, for the moment. "Fine. What about adoption?"_

_Riza's face fell at Rebecca's question. "I thought about it," she admitted quietly. "But I…the whole idea of it is just…I _can't_. I'm not being completely logical right now, but the idea of giving up this child is…it feels like a betrayal."  
_

_Rebecca sighed, wrapping both her arms around Riza's tiny, shaking form and hugging her tightly. "That's how you feel, Riza. There's nothing wrong with it."_

_Riza rested her head against Rebecca's shoulder, closing her eyes. "I don't know what to do Becca."_

_"Yes, you do," Rebecca disagreed quietly. Riza had already made her decision, of course. She just needed someone to support her._

_Rebecca could do that._

Roy stared at Rebecca as her story finally came to a close. He was having a very hard time connecting the frightened, confused creature she had described with the Riza Hawkeye he himself knew. The images just _refused_ to connect in his mind.

"I never thought she made the right decision, not telling Maes' father, running away…but I can't exactly hold it against her either. Havoc was the same, he didn't agree with it, but he got one look at Riza, and he couldn't say no. This is probably a stupid question and I already know the answer, but has she ever asked you to do anything for her? Something _really_ big, that you would normally never agree to do for anyone else?"

Roy blinked, and an image of Riza — covered from head to foot in dust, her eyes emotionless but pain-filled — appeared in his mind's eye. "Yes," he murmured, much to Rebecca's surprise. "Yes, she has."

"And did you say yes?" Roy nodded. "So you understand where we're coming from. She's completely impossible to say no to. No matter how much you want to."

Yeah. He definitely understood.

"She seems happy," Roy said after a moment. "I mean, from what little bit I've seen. Despite the fact she was completely miserable both times she laid eyes on me."

"I think you just surprised her. She kind of grabs on to any news I have about you. I mean, she tries to act like she's not interested, but she can't fool me. She loves when I bring stories about you, no matter how small they are. Honestly, I think she just likes hearing your name."

Considering the way she'd looked at him, Roy _highly_ doubted that. But he'd let it go. "Maes hates me. He calls me the 'mean guy.'"

Rebecca burst out laughing, much to Roy's non-surprise. "He was probably just mad because you upset his mother. He's a very protective little boy you know. Give it time he'll warm up to you."

"I don't think Riza's going to give me that kind of time."

"Then make it," Rebecca insisted at once. _This_ surprised Roy a bit.

"_You're_ advocating for me to try and work myself back into Riza's life?" He demanded, shock coloring his voice. "Catalina, you hate me."

"Yeah, but Riza loves you, for _God_ knows what reason. She'd _love_ to have you back in her life, even if she won't admit it. As happy as she is now…she knows she's missing something. And that something is you."

"Wouldn't that _something_ be Maes' mysterious father?" Roy asked, surprised by the bitter tone his voice took on. Rebecca smirked, a bit knowingly.

"I don't even know his _name_. He can't be too important to Riza. But you are. And are you _really_ going to let the fact that she has a kid effect how you feel about her?"

As if that were even possible. Rebecca raised an eyebrow at him, her smirk tightening. This man was easier to play than a piano.

If she had her way, Riza and Roy would be together before the end of the month.

And maybe _he_ could get her to reveal who Maes' father was…

* * *

**Author's Note:** Come on, did you guys _really_ think Roy wasn't the father? Even for a minute? I realize it's a cliché route to take but…come on. Did anyone _really_ think, even for a minute, that Roy _wasn't_ Maes' father? Really? Anyways, this chapter was particularly fun for me to write, especially the flashback with Roy and Riza. Drunk Roy was a blast. I don't usually write about _joyful_ drunk people, this was definitely a deviation from the usual. So review please, opinions are always appreciated! — Sam


	6. Making A Place

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — VI**_

"_Aaaaahhh!_"

_Crash!_

Havoc and Riza jerked around as the sound of a loud _crash_ echoed out from the back room. "Oh man," Havoc groaned as Riza flew into the back room.

"Maes?"

A small blonde head poked out from a pile of boxes. Maes' eyes landed on his mother's panicked face, and he tried to smile. "Um…hi Mom." The boy laughed sheepishly, rubbing his head.

"What did I tell you about playing around back here?" Riza demanded as she stormed across the room, tucking her hands under the boy's arms and pulling him out of the pile. "Are you okay?"

"M'fine!" Maes said with a nod and a grin. Riza shook her head, carrying him back out into the front.

"How many boxes did he knock over this time?" Havoc asked as Riza set her son down on the counter. Maes giggled, sticking his tongue out and grinning.

"Only a couple," he assured his godfather.

"I'll pick them up in a few," Riza promised as she pushed Maes' bangs out of his face, examining his head critically. She didn't see any cuts, at least. A small bruise was already beginning to form just under his hairline, but other than that, he seemed okay.

"Oh boy," a familiar voice spoke up as the bell over the front door jingled. "How many boxes did he knock over this time?"

"Aunt 'Becca!" Maes cheered as he hopped off the counter and ran around, right into Rebecca's waiting arms.

"Maes!" Rebecca laughed as she scooped the boy up, hugging him tightly. "Giving yourself more bruises baby boy?"

"Nah!"

Havoc chuckled as he watched Rebecca with Maes. She would make a good mother herself, if she ever wanted to…

His smile faded as he watched Riza disappear silently into the back room to pick up the mess. He looked to see that Rebecca and Maes were definitely wrapped up in one another, then wheeled himself around the corner, heading into the back room as well.

"What's up?"

Riza stopped mid-bend and looked over her shoulder at Havoc, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." Riza sighed, looking at the clock on the wall.

"Don't you have physical therapy today?"

"Yeah, in an hour. Why, trying to get rid of me?"

"Now Havoc, would I _ever_ do that?" Havoc snorted at the overly innocent tone in Riza's voice. As if he'd ever really believe she was _innocent_. "Now if you want these boxes picked up stop distracting me—"

"Forget the boxes for a minute, Riza. I want to talk to you." Riza sighed again, turning around and dropping down onto an overturned box. "Good girl." Havoc chuckled a bit. "So what's going on with you? You've been pretty down the last couple of days."

"It's nothing for you to worry yourself about. Just forget it."

Right. Like Havoc would _really_ let the subject drop. "Come on. I am the godfather of your child. If you can't talk to me who _can_ you talk to?" Havoc was pleased when Riza laughed. It was such a rare sound…

"You know if I were you I really wouldn't worry so much about me."

"Good thing you're not me, then." Another weak chuckle, and Riza went back to picking up boxes.

"Come on Havoc, you know me, I've just been thinking too much. Remember, you're always accusing me of that?"

"Think about Mustang?" Riza didn't answer. "This must really be messing you up, seeing him again."

"_Seen_." Riza corrected firmly. "I've _seen_ Mustang. I saw him, and now I'll never see him again."

"Do you really think now that he knows where you are he's going to leave you alone?" Havoc asked in disbelief. Roy had spent the last five years hassling Rebecca, trying to get her to reveal Riza's location. No way Riza _really_ believed Roy was just going to walk away now…

"What reason could he possibly have to want to see me again?" Riza asked reasonably. "He wanted to know why I left, and now he does. And we can al go back to our lives."

Havoc snorted. He never thought he'd live to see the day that Riza Hawkeye was so damn deep in denial.

—

Roy shifted his weight between his feet, taking in a deep breath. To say he was nervous would be an understatement. He wasn't so sure how Riza would react to him just popping in for no reason…

But all he'd been able to think about all day was getting off work, going home and changing into street clothes, and going to the store.

He _really_ just wanted to see Riza.

Riza was leaning on the counter, doodling on a piece of paper, looking completely bored, when Roy walked in. She raised her eyes, her gaze hardening when she saw who had interrupted her.

"Can I help you General?" Roy sighed. He couldn't say he hadn't expected that kind of reaction.

"I'm pretty sure I'm beyond help," he joked with a weak chuckle.

"I honestly don't doubt that," Riza said, her face completely straight. She sighed as she crumpled up the paper she'd been drawing on, tossing it into the trash.

"So where's the rest of your little crew?" Roy asked as he looked around. Riza seemed very alone at the moment.

"Havoc had physical therapy, so he went home early. I sent Maes with him. I try to get him out of here as much as I can, it's not fair that he always has to hang around."

Roy frowned. There was an almost…_guilty _note in Riza's voice. "Do you really think he minds?"

Riza looked like she was really considering the question. Suddenly she scowled. "Why did you come here, sir?"

"First of all, you don't have to call me _sir_. Or General. Just Roy would be fine." Riza made a face at that.

"You make it sound like we're going to be seeing each other _often_." Roy just smirked. Riza stared at Roy, disbelief coloring her face. "You're kidding, right?"

"Well you know, we _were_ friends for six years before I became your commanding officer. Maybe I just want that friendship back, is that so wrong?"

More staring. Clearly Riza wasn't buying into anything Roy was saying. Roy sighed a bit. How was he supposed to make her understand that these last five years without her had been hell? That he didn't just _want_ her back in his life — he needed her there?

"I suppose it's asking too much to want a chance, right?" Riza looked bewildered now. Roy sighed again, putting into words what he'd been feeling since Rebecca had told him everything. "I would have helped too, you know. You could have come to me, I could have helped with your resignation or money or…_something_. You didn't have to hide from me."

Riza bit her lip, trying not to let her internal distress show on her face. "I didn't ask Rebecca _or_ Havoc to help me. I didn't even _go_ to Havoc, Rebecca did. I didn't want anyone's help, they chose to help me on their own."

"But _you_ told Rebecca. You gave her the _option_ to help. I didn't even get _that_ much of a chance."

"_You_ are my commanding officer. It hardly would have been appropriate."

"Was." Riza blinked, confusion clear on her face. "I _was_ your commanding officer," Roy clarified. You could have come to me the second you decided to resign."

"It still would have been inappropriate."

"Why?" Roy demanded, clearly angry. Why? Because maybe Riza was crazy, but it seemed so…_wrong_ to ask the man she was trying to run away from to help her run away.

Roy frowned when he didn't receive an answer. "Fine. It's in the past, it doesn't matter. Lets talk about now, shall we?" Great. Riza's second least favorite topic.

"With all due respect sir — _Roy_," she corrected herself begrudgingly at the look Roy gave her, "there's really nothing to talk about. I have a life here that I'm quite content with, and have no intentions of changing it."

"And I'm not asking you to change," Roy promised. "But I highly doubt there's absolutely _no_ way for _me_ to be a part of that life as well."

Riza had to struggle to keep her voice steady as she responded. "And what if I said there wasn't?" Inside she was panicking. This had been the whole damn point of leaving Roy _behind_, he complicated things too much…

Roy smirked as Riza scowled. He'd won this. He wasn't quite sure how, but he'd definitely won.

* * *

"Need help Uncle Jean?" Maes asked as he watched his godfather balance on one crutch and try to reach for the top shelf of a cabinet at the same time.

"No thanks bud." Last time Maes had climbed onto the counter for Havoc, he'd fallen off. The results had been eight stitches in the back of his head and one _very_ pissed off Riza. Working with her had been pure hell for about three months after. And this was the first time he'd been alone with Maes since.

Havoc was more than willing to struggle if the alternative was possibly repeating _that_ experience.

"Are you sure? I won't fall again." Havoc laughed.

"Yeah Maes, I'm sure. Why don't you go play with Hayate? I'll have supper ready in about twenty minutes." Give or take how long it took to get the spaghetti out of the cabinet.

"All anyone ever tells me to do is play, play, play…" Maes grumbled as he slumped off into the living room. Havoc chuckled.

"What a hard life," he murmured good-naturedly as he finally succeeded in grabbing the box of spaghetti.

_Havoc jerked awake as a hand rested itself on his shoulder. Attached to the hand was the arm of Rebecca Catalina. "Hey." Havoc groaned quietly as he rubbed his eyes. He redirected his gaze to the small, pale figure laying in the bed he was currently sitting next to. "Still unconscious."_

_"Yeah." Rebecca sighed, turning to look at her best friend as well. "I just talked to the doctor, the baby's doing all right — you know, for being almost two months early."_

_Havoc had been panicked, to say the least, when Riza had stumbled into his room at three a.m. and forced out, through gritted teeth, that her water had broke. His first thought (after _holy fuck_) had been to call an ambulance. His second thought had been to call Rebecca. His third thought had been _wait, it's way too soon_._

_Sixteen agonizing hours after arriving at the hospital, a doctor had finally, _finally_ come to tell Havoc and Rebecca what was going on._

_The baby (a tiny, blonde-haired boy) was six and a half weeks early. And to top it off, a bad complication during labor had left Riza bleeding in copious amounts for over an hour after the baby had been born._

_And now she was unconscious, an IV line feeding her new blood to replace what she had lost._

_It had been almost two hours._

_Rebecca had disappeared to call headquarters and feed people some excuses about why she'd missed work that day. Havoc had fallen asleep while she'd been gone._

_A low moan made Rebecca and Havoc jump. Both turned their heads to look at Riza, a bit surprised to see her stirring a little, her lips moving as if she were trying to speak._

_"Easy Ri," Rebecca murmured, resting a hand on the woman's shoulder. Riza's face twisted into a pained look, and Rebecca moved her hand, resting it instead against her forehead. She was too warm, and despite the fact that the doctor had reassured them this was a normal side effect of a blood transfusion, it still scared Rebecca._

_Riza groaned again. Despite how pained it sounded, it was a relief to hear. A sign that she was still alive._

_"Riza?"_

_Her lips moved again, and this time one word managed to force its way out in a struggling, breathless way._

_"…Roy…"_

_Havoc wondered if the one, pain-filled word broke Rebecca's heart the way it broke his. "He should be here," Rebecca mumbled, a bit resentfully, as she pushed a damp strand of hair back from Riza's sweaty forehead._

_"We can't blame this on him. He doesn't know."_

_"I didn't say I was blaming him. But don't _you_ think he should be here?"_

_Havoc didn't have an answer to that._

"Mom!" Maes cheered suddenly, breaking Havoc out of his reverie. The blonde man smirked. So she'd broken down and closed the store early. No surprise. They'd had two customers between the time they opened at eight and the time Havoc had left at twelve-thirty to go to physical therapy. When he'd returned at two to pick up Maes, Riza said they'd been dead. Things like bombings had a way of scaring these small town people. It'd be probably be another two weeks until business picked up again.

"Hey Maes." Riza was smiling as she scooped the boy into her arms, hugging him tightly. Hayate bounced around her feet, barking and grinning his doggy grin. "Were you a good boy for Uncle Jean?"

"Ahuh." Maes nodded, grinning. Riza looked over Maes' head, her eyes connecting with Havoc's, looking for a confirmation of her son's answer to her question.

"Ah he was fine," Havoc said with a grin of his own as he made his way across the room, patting Maes' head as he got close to the tiny family. "Maes is always a good boy."

"You clearly don't live with him."

"Hey!" Riza laughed softly as she pressed her lips to Maes' forehead before setting him down.

"I see he's still in one piece."

"Oh come on, I learn from my mistakes. I'll never let him climb on the counter. Again." Riza rolled her eyes, patting Maes' head. "Anyways, I was about to make some spaghetti, you two are welcome to stick around. I'm beginning to think Alphonse got lost, he's been gone since about three…"

"Trying to guilt us into staying so you won't be lonely?"

"Is it working?"

Another eye roll, but Riza was smiling at least. "I'll help you cook. Lord knows if anyone can mess up spaghetti, it's you."

"Oh ha-ha," Havoc grumbled as he and Riza started into the kitchen. Maes stayed in the living room with Hayate. "I'll have you know I'm a _fine_ cook, thank you very much."

"Do you _really_ want me to remind you about the rice incident?"

"You swore you'd never bring that up again," Havoc growled. Riza smirked as she pulled a pot out from under the sink and filled it with water. It was so _easy_ to push Havoc's buttons. She wouldn't deny she got a certain kind of joy out of it…

"So how was business today? Any big booms come along?"

Riza made a noise in the back of her throat. "There was one more customer after you left, a little before five. Trust me, I didn't close early because it was so busy and it was too much pressure to try and work by myself."

Havoc laughed as he grabbed a can of sauce out of the cabinet. "Can you grab me a pan? If I bend down I might not be able to get up again and I'm certainly not about to depend on _you_ to get me up."

"Alphonse has to come back eventually, the blockade out of town still hasn't been lifted." Riza said with a slight smirk as she knelt down to get another pan.

"You're just _full_ of sarcastic remarks tonight, aren't you?" That worried Havoc a bit. The only time Riza ever _really_ got sarcastic was when she was on the defensive about something. And there was only one thing — one _person_ — that she ever really got defensive about.

"Did Mustang show up at the store again?"

Riza sighed, staring at the pot of water sitting on the burner. "Am I that easy to read?"

"Only to people who know you." Havoc smiled softly. "So what'd he want?" No answer. Havoc decided to pursue a different, admittedly unrelated, route. "Is he really not Maes' father?"

"You and Rebecca gossip like old women."

"He told Rebecca you guys never slept together," Havoc continued, ignoring Riza's snippy comment. "Was he just lying? I mean…is he _really_ not Maes' father?"

"Havoc if I say he isn't will you let it the hell _go_?" Riza demanded angrily. "It doesn't _matter_ who Maes' father is, he doesn't have anything to do with our lives and that's the way I'm keeping it. Maes and I are doing _fine_ on our own, we don't need anyone else and we _certainly_ don't need his father. I'm tired of having this same damn discussion over and over and _over_—"

"Mom?"

Riza cut herself off mid-rant and looked over her shoulder at Maes, who was standing in the door, looking a bit scared. And no wonder. Riza hardly ever raised her voice; when she did, Maes knew it was cause for alarm. She looked back at Havoc, who was making an _I'm sorry_ face. "Go back in the living room Maes," Riza mumbled as she looked at the pot of water; it was beginning to boil.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine kiddo. Go back in the living room." A moment of silence, and then the sound of tiny footsteps padded across the hardwood floors of the house, fading as they got further away. After a minute Riza raised her eyes to look at Havoc, who was regarding her worriedly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose my temper like that."

"This Mustang thing is getting under your skin, isn't it?" Riza bit her lip.

"He wants to be back in my life," she said after a moment, staring at the stove. "He doesn't understand why I never tried to go to him for help, and I can't explain anything to him, but if he's going to be around all the time, eventually he's going to want answers that I just can't give him."

"Why can't you give them to him?"

Riza didn't answer.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Um…yup. Not much to say except…review! — Sam


	7. What To Believe

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — VII**_

_She watched as a woman cried over the inert form of a little girl, no more than five years old. Though it was obvious the child met her end through a bullet, Riza could, at least, say that _she_ hadn't been the one that had robbed the girl of her life._

_This was of little comfort to Riza as she raised her rifle to introduce the girl's mother to the same end. She focused on the sobbing woman through the crosshairs. Would she be doing this woman a favor by putting her out of her misery? Her daughter was dead after all, probably along with the rest of her family. Would this woman _welcome_ death?_

_Because God knew at this point that Riza certainly would._

_She pulled the trigger._

_The bullet went right through the woman's head. She wouldn't suffer as her daughter (who had been shot in the stomach and had clearly bled to death) had._

_It still made Riza sick to watch the woman slump over her child, blood leaking from her head._

Riza bolted up as her eyes shot open. her blanket was tangled around her body, sweat causing her pajamas and strands of hair to cling to her skin. She pulled in a few gasping breaths, trying to force her racing heart to slow down. It didn't work.

After a minute of struggling, Riza managed to disentangle herself from the blanket and stumble out of bed. Her legs shook violently when she put her weight on them, and for a moment she was afraid she was going to collapse. But she managed to keep herself upright, and walk shakily to the bathroom.

She grabbed a washcloth out of the cabinet and wetted it, wringing it out before running it over her face. She hadn't bothered to turn on the light; she didn't want to see her reflection at that moment.

When Riza was sure she more or less had control over herself (her breathing was basically back to normal, and she wasn't shaking quite as much anymore), she tossed the washcloth into the hamper and stepped out of the bathroom, choosing not to go back to bed, but instead gently pushing open Maes' bedroom door, slipping in to the boy's room. The white-wash light of the half-moon in the sky outside bathed over half the room, giving Riza just enough light to see her tiny son sprawled out over his bed, his mouth hanging open as he snored lightly, blankets kicked off, one foot resting against Hayate, who was curled up at the bottom of the bed. Riza allowed herself a small smile as she crossed the room, kneeling down next to the bed and reaching a hand out, smoothing Maes' hair back from his face. He was a heavy sleeper; he didn't even flinch under his mother's touch.

An image of the dead child from Riza's dream flashed through her mind and she cringed, squeezing her eyes shut and pressing her lips together in an attempt to push down the sob that threatened to raise from her throat. She couldn't imagine being that girl's mother, couldn't imagine what she would ever do if it was _Maes_ in place of that little girl.

Riza sighed as she stood again, picking up the blanket Maes had, in sleep, thrown onto the floor and flicking her wrists so it flew over the boy, hovering momentarily before settling down on his small body. Hayate lifted his head as the blanket rubbed against him too, his eyes finding Riza, who put a finger to her lips; a silent order for Hayate to stay quiet. The dog understood, lowering his head back to his paws and instantly falling asleep again. Riza smiled a bit as she leaned in, pressing her lips lightly against Maes' forehead before slipping out of the room again, closing the door behind her.

How many times, she wondered as she made her way back to her own room, had she considered killing herself after Ishval? Whatever the number, she knew she hadn't tried to follow through nearly as many times. There'd been once when Rebecca had, on an impromptu visit, walked in right as Riza was about the pull the trigger of the gun pressed to her temple. She was pretty sure Rebecca's yelling had roused the dead in _Xing_. That had been the first time, only a couple weeks after she'd returned from Ishval.

The second time had been a few months later, and had found her caught by a very different person…

_"It's not going to get up and start doing back-flips, Hawkeye."_

_Riza jumped, raising her eyes to look at Roy, who was standing in her bedroom door, staring at her. Damn it. Hadn't she told him _yesterday_ that she didn't need him to keep checking on her? The pain from the burns had more or less…not gone away, exactly, but it was more tolerable, at least._

_"Major," Riza mumbled, looking away from him. "I'm sure you have better things to do then coming here to check on me, you really don't have to—"_

_"I did the damage, the least I can do is help you recover," Roy interrupted, his voice hard._

_"I _asked_ you too. There's a difference."_

_Roy sighed. "Stubborn as always," he muttered as he walked further into the room. He hesitated before sitting down on the bed, reaching out and picking the gun up, much to Riza's surprise. He weighed it in his hands for a moment before saying, "were you thinking about killing yourself?"_

_Riza shifted her eyes back to him, surprised that he'd come to such a conclusion. "You wouldn't be the first. I hear reports every day about soldiers…can't handle the memories I guess. I kind of envy them." The whispered confession startled Riza more than anything. "They have the power — the courage — to pull the trigger, or to hang themselves, or however else they do it. I'm too much of a coward for that."_

_"You tried?" Riza wasn't sure _how_ she came to that conclusion. It was just something in his voice…_

_"Yeah. Right after we came back. Hughes just about punched me out when he found out about it…" Roy chuckled humorlessly as he held the gun out to Riza, his hand suspending it in the air between them. "I'm about the last person who can tell you not to do it, it'd be too hypocritical. No one would hold it against you."_

_Riza stared at the gun, Rebecca's yells echoing over the months that had passed since the first time she'd held a gun to her head. "I know someone who would," she admitted after a moment._

_"Maybe it isn't such a great idea then." With that Roy set the gun on the bedside table. "Shirt off, I need to change your bandages."_

_"I don't need you to—"_

_"Oh hush and take off your shirt." He picked up the medicine kit they'd left by the bed, taking out some clean bandages. Riza sighed as she did as she was told, turning so her back was to Roy and slipping her shirt over her head. She cringed as Roy ran his fingers over the bandages that hid the fresh burns from his eyes._

_"For the record," he murmured as he carefully began removing the bandages, exposing the burns to air and causing Riza shiver, "I'd probably hold it against you too."_

It was just after three a.m. Riza sighed as she stared at her alarm clock for a long moment before rubbing her eyes. There was absolutely no way she was getting back to sleep tonight. Her mind was practically working overtime now.

She was going to be exhausted though…

* * *

"_How much longer do you think it's going to take you to get back?_" Winry asked, sounding a bit concerned. Al sighed as he looked out the large window that dominated most of the front wall of the store, staring at the empty streets.

"Havoc said that they usually keep the blockades on towns until they deem whether or not the explosion was accidental or on purpose. If it was an accident, obviously people are allowed to come and go. If it was intentional…"

"_You'll be there even longer,_" Winry finished the sentence for Al.

"Pretty much."

"_Well take care of yourself, all right? We're all waiting for you_." Al laughed.

"Winry how much trouble can I get into hanging around a convenience store with Havoc?"

"_I put nothing past you Alphonse_." He could tell from the sound of her voice that she was smiling.

"Hey, is Brother back yet?"

"_Yeah, he got back late last night. He's sleeping though, do you want me to wake him up?_"

"Nah, let him sleep. I'll try and call later." The sound of the bell over the door jingling drew Al's attention back to the front, and he saw that Riza and Maes had come in.

"_All right. Well I've gotta go, Grandma's out front talking to a customer. I'll talk to you later, Al._"

"Bye Winry." Al was smiling as he hung up.

"I heard the door," Havoc said excitedly as he wheeled his way out of the back. "Is it a — oh." His face fell when he saw Maes and Riza. "It's just you two."

"Well hey, if you don't want us around we'll gladly go home…"

"Freeze," Havoc ordered as Riza started to turn to walk out again. Maes was laughing. Riza smirked as she turned away from the door, going over to the counter.

"I saw a few more places open today, we might actually get some people in."

"Tell me the deli was one of those places." Riza nodded. "Oh thank _God_, we won't have to starve today…"

"Uncle Jean I don't think you're starving," Maes informed his godfather seriously. Havoc pretended to look insulted.

"You saying I'm fat kid?"

"Well lord knows you spend enough time in that wheelchair, you probably _are_ getting soft…"

"I am _not_ soft!" Havoc snapped indignantly. Maes wasn't the only one laughing now; Al was cracking up as well. He loved listening to Havoc and Riza, they bickered like siblings. It reminded him a bit of himself and Edward.

"You know Rebecca doesn't generally go for flabby men."

If ever there was a statement that could cause Havoc to turn completely and utterly _red_. "Like I care what that _harpy_ goes for!" He shouted a bit louder than necessary.

"What's a harpy?" Maes asked, tilting his head up to look at his mother, who in turn shook her own head.

"Never-mind."

Maes looked baffled. Alphonse caught his bottom lip between his teeth in an attempt to stifle his laughter. Once this whole bomb business was cleared up and he was able to go home, he was _definitely_ going to have to come back and visit.

Much to Riza's and Havoc's mutual relieves, business _did_ manage to pick up a little. By noon they'd had a grand total of about five customers. Which wasn't a lot, but was more than they'd had in the last four days combined.

"Good news Riza," Havoc said with a slight grin as the latest customer left. "I might be able to pay you this week after all."

"Look at this way Havoc: if you don't pay me Maes and I are going to be living with _you_ again. Does that sound like something you want?"

Havoc considered this for a moment. "Would you like a raise?"

Maes, who was helping a volunteering Alphonse stock shelves, laughed. "Mom and I lived with Uncle Jean until I was three," he informed Al, who was chuckling as well at Havoc's and Riza's conversation. "Now we live down the street from him. He says it's a lot like us living with him still because we're always at his house."

Al looked over his shoulder at Havoc and Riza, who were now arguing good-naturedly. "I'm sure he doesn't mind."

Maes shrugged, then frowned. "Uncle Jean and Mom argue a lot though. Not fun arguing like they do here, but real arguing, like they're angry at each other." Alphonse made a face at that. He had yet to hear either former lieutenant raise their voice to one another in a serious way. But then, maybe they were just good at hiding it.

"What do they argue about?"

"I dunno," Maes admitted. "I never really hear them, I just hear the yelling. Sometimes Uncle Jean mentions my dad."

"Do you know who your dad is?" Al ventured cautiously, careful not to let Riza overhear him asking. In the five days that had passed since the beginning of his forced stay in town, he'd learned one thing: _nobody_ mentioned Maes' father around Riza. Unless they happened to be suicidal.

"No. Mom said he had to go away before I was born. But she told me not to be mad at him or hate him, because he didn't _want_ to go away, he just didn't have a choice. She said I should still love him like I would if he was here."

"And…do you?"

Another shrug. "I dunno," Maes repeated his answer from earlier. "I don't _know_ him. Mom tells me about him, she said he was nice to her, and he took care of her, and she promises he would be here if he could, and I bet I _would_ love him if he was here…"

"All right, lunchtime!" Havoc announced suddenly, surprising Alphonse and Maes and putting an abrupt end to the conversation. The look on his face told Al that he'd lost whatever mock argument he and Riza had been having. "Who wants what?"

"Cheese sandwich!" Maes shouted, jumping up. Havoc winced, rubbing his eardrum as he wrote down Maes' order.

"Little louder buddy, they didn't hear you in Xing. What about you Al? If you're looking for recommendations the BLTs are great—"

"I don't think he asked your opinion, Havoc."

"I don't think anyone ever asked you to _speak_," Havoc shot back grumpily, tilting his head to the side to glare at Riza.

"I'll get a BLT," Al cut in quickly before Riza could respond.

Havoc scribbled a few things down on the paper before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a coin. "Call it in the air, heads or tails."

"Heads," Riza said as Havoc flipped the coin. It came back down, landing in Havoc's hand, and he cursed.

"Damn it, I didn't want to go…"

"You could use the exercise anyways."

"For the last time Riza I'm _not_ flabby!"

"I'll go," Al spoke up, drawing the adult's attention to him.

"You sure Al? I really don't mind going—"

"It's his turn anyways, I went last time," Riza interrupted Havoc, shooting the man a pointed look.

"Which doesn't really count considering you didn't come back with food—"

"Well I'm sorry three stores had to go and explode, kind of distracted me—"

"I don't mind," Al said, biting back a laugh as he picked the list of orders up off the counter. He was a bit cramped from kneeling in front of shelves all morning anyways, the idea of getting out and walking around was a wonderful one.

"All right," Havoc said with a shrug as he pulled some money out of his pocket and handed it to Al. "Take Maes with you, if Jake knows you're with us he'll give you a discount."

Alphonse and Maes left, and Havoc turned to Riza, his face taking on a serious look. Now that they were gone, he felt more free to be able to talk to her. "Are you expecting someone?"

Riza, who had been staring at the cash register looking utterly bored, raised her head to look at Havoc, surprise shining in her amber eyes. "What? No, of course not. Why?"

"Because every time a customer walks in you look up like you're excited about something, then frown and look away again." Riza cursed silently. Damn, was she _that_ easy to read? "Let me guess — you're waiting to see if Mustang comes."

It had been two days since Riza had last seen Roy. Not that she was counting or anything. It was just an easy number to remember. "Of course not Havoc. Why would I care if he comes or not?"

"Gee, can't imagine." Havoc pretended to think. "Let's see…maybe because you're in love with him?"

He didn't get any reaction to his words, of course. Riza was a good actress. "When are you going to let that go? I am not, nor have I ever been, in love with Roy Mustang. I wish you would get that through your head."

The bell over the door rang suddenly, and Riza's head snapped around to see a customer walk in. Havoc noted that she struggled not to look disappointed.

Right. She wasn't waiting for Roy or anything. Of course not.

"So what else has your mom told you about your father?" Alphonse asked as they made their way down the street. He felt a bit more free to talk away from Riza. And Maes didn't seem to mind the topic that much.

"Not much," Maes said as he kicked a rock on the sidewalk. "She doesn't like talking about him, it makes her sad, so I don't ask a lot."

Al smiled sadly. "You really love your mother, don't you?" He could relate. Maes nodded slowly.

"I heard Aunt 'Becca and Uncle Jean talking once, they said Mom gave up everything to raise me." That was _definitely_ a conversation he wasn't supposed to hear. Al could guess that without even knowing the full conversation. "And even when she's sad, she tries really hard to be happy for me. It's like she doesn't even care about herself."

Al knew that was her nature. He'd learned, through past conversations with Fuery, Breda, Falman, and Havoc, that Riza had always constantly sacrificed things in order to follow Roy. She'd turned down countless promotions, transfer offers, anything that might take her off of Mustang's team. And she hardly _ever_ thought about herself.

It was no surprise that the she would demonstrate the same self-sacrifice with her son. Though, as Al thought about his own mother, he realized that might have just been a parent thing.

They passed close to the blast site, and Al, upon a quick inspection, saw that Roy was there today, along with Maria Ross, Fuery, and Breda. "I wonder if they're going to find out what happened," Maes said as his eyes followed Al's gaze to see what the man was seeing.

"I'm sure they will. Come on, you wanna say hello to Roy?" Maes nodded, and they made their way down the street, stopping at the edge of the yellow tape that separated the public from the blast site. There was a bit of a crowd, all trying to see what was going on, of course.

Maria was the first to see Al and Maes. "Alphonse!" She sounded a bit surprised. Al smiled as he raised his hand, giving her a quick salute.

"Hello Lieutenant Ross."

Maes cocked his head at the woman, frowning. "You're the one that came into the store that day," he remembered aloud. "You called my mom Lieuten—"

To everyone's surprise, Roy ducked under the tape, slapping a hand over Maes' mouth and effectively silencing him mid-word. "You know what," he said to a thoroughly bewildered Fuery and Breda, "spread the word, we're taking a break for lunch."

They both looked confused as they slumped away to let everyone else know. "You gotta be careful Maes," Roy mumbled as he knelt down next to the boy. "There are a lot of people here who know your mom, I'm sure she'd rather they didn't know where she is."

"Okay," Maes said quietly as Roy pulled his hand away from his mouth. "Would it be _bad_ if they knew?"

"Probably not, she just likes her privacy is all. She'll be happier if nobody else here knows that she's around." And of course, it went without saying that Maes wanted his mother to be happy. Roy knew he wouldn't have to say anything after that.

"Right," Maes nodded, his face taking on a determined look. "I'll be careful."

Roy smiled as he stood up, patting the boy's head. "All right, I have to try and find some food, I'm hungry…"

"You wanna come to the deli with us?" Maes asked, his face lighting up at the thought of the idea. "Al and I were going to get lunch."

Roy looked a bit appeased by the invitation. "Sure…why not?" He looked back at his lieutenant. "Would you like to come, Lieutenant Ross?"

Maria looked between Roy and the little boy. She didn't even have to consider the invite. She would feel too much like she was intruding. "I think I'll just go with Fuery and Breda. Thank you though."

Roy shrugged as if to say _your choice_ before turning back to Maes. "All right. Lets go then."

Maes was smiling as the group of now three started down the street, heading this time towards the deli. "Hey Roy?" Maes asked as he walked, tilting his head up to look at the raven-haired man. "How do you and my mom know each other?"

The question caught Roy off-guard. "We met a long time ago. Her father taught me about alchemy." Al was surprised by that. "I was fourteen when I met her."

"So you're an alchemist?" Roy nodded. "Wow, that's cool. I had a friend at school last year, his mom was an alchemist. I do alchemy too, kind of, I can do a few little things."

Another surprise. Roy looked a bit taken by this as well. "Really?"

"Yeah!" Maes shoved his hands into the pocket of his shorts, frowning when he came up empty. "I don't have anything to write with…"

"Here." Roy reached into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out a piece of chalk. He didn't _really_ need it (the clapping thing was very convenient). But he liked to keep it on him anyways, just in case. He held the chalk out to Maes, who grinned as he knelt down, drawing a transmutation circle on the sidewalk. He found a rock and placed it in the center of the circle, pressing his hands against the edges. The circle glowed brightly; when the light died away, the rock had changed into a tiny stone figurine of a little dog. Al didn't know about Roy, but _he_ was certainly impressed as he knelt down and picked up the figurine. It was incredibly detailed.

"Wow." Apparently Roy was impressed. "That's really…wow Maes, that's great. Did your friend's mom teach you that?"

Maes shook his head. "Nope, she just taught me how to draw the circles, I learned everything else on my own. Mom says I get it from my father, he was an alchemist too."

That didn't surprise Roy. Though it also wouldn't have surprised him if he'd gotten a bit of his talent from Riza as well; she'd always refused to try alchemy of any form, despite her father's insistence to try and teach her. She probably had some kind of alchemic ability in her, even if she didn't use it.

Maes to the figurine from Al, putting it gently in his pocket. "Going to give it to your mom?" Al chuckled as Maes nodded.

"She loves dogs," the boy informed the blonde man seriously.

"She always did," Roy said as the three stood up again and started down the street. "Her father would never let her keep one, but every time he went out of town for the night, she'd manage to find a stray and let it stay in the house until her father came home."

"Really?" Maes sounded highly amused by this. He giggled as Roy nodded. Al was beginning to realize that there were, apparently, many sides to Riza Hawkeye that he wasn't aware of. He was mostly use to the stoic, silent woman that was always at Roy's side, a gun always within reach. The only time he'd ever seen Riza in a different way had been when she'd broken down after Lust had told her Roy was dead. Al was sure he'd never forget _that_ memory for as long as he lived. The sight of the strong, quiet woman screaming as she unloaded bullet after bullet into the homunculus, eventually running out of guns and collapsing in tears, had been out of the ordinary, if not slightly disturbing to Al, who had only been able to stand to the side as the lieutenant took out her grief on the cause of said emotion.

But listening to Roy and Maes talk about their very different memories of Riza, Al saw that there was more to the blonde lieutenant than he'd originally given her credit for. He was certainly glad he had this opportunity to learn more.

* * *

"Jeez, we were beginning to think you got lost," Havoc quipped as, nearly half an hour after they'd left, Maes and Alphonse _finally_ returned, a bag of sandwiches in hand. Riza came out from the back, smiling when she saw Maes and Al.

"Guess what, guess what?" Maes piped as he ran around the corner, coming to a halt in front of his mother and grinning. "We saw Roy!"

"Oh really?" The expression on Riza's face was impossible to read.

"Yup! And I showed him and Al that I can do alchemy, and—" Maes cut himself off abruptly as he dug through his pocket, finding the tiny stone dog that he'd transfigured. "And I made you this!" He finished triumphantly as he held the dog out to Riza, who smiled brightly as she took it, turning it over in her fingers.

"Thank you Maes, it's adorable!"

Maes looked pleased at his mother's comment. Al was beginning to see more and more similarities between Maes and himself and Edward.

He just hoped Maes got to have a bit of a happier ending.

"Come on, lets eat. You guys took forever getting the food, I'm wasting away here…"

Riza knelt down next to Maes, whispering something in his ear. Maes listened with wide eyes, then giggled as he ran over to Havoc, instantly jumping into the man's lap. Before Havoc could question him, the boy poked him the side, causing him to jump.

"Hey, what was that for Maes?"

"Mom told me to poke your side and see how soft it was." Maes looked back at Riza, grinning widely. "He's flabby."

"_I am not flabby_!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** So yup…sorry about the wait…but review anyways? — Sam


	8. How It Looks

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — VIII**_

"Isn't there usually a child hanging around here too?"

Riza looked up from the book she'd been reading, surprised (though not really) to see Roy standing in the door of the store. "Don't you usually have a job?" She asked as she set the book aside.

"Come on Riza, you worked with him for six years, you know what his work ethic is like."

Roy shot Havoc a death gaze before turning back to Riza. "It's my day off. They _do_ give me those you know."

"Like you need any more of an excuse to be lazy." Riza rolled her eyes, smirking a bit at the look on Roy's face. Before he could respond though, the door behind Riza and Havoc flew open, and Alphonse walked out, the top of his head barely visible above the box he was carrying.

"Take a left Al," Havoc directed the man carefully. "You're about to walk into the counter."

"They put you to work, Alphonse?" Roy asked, a bit amused.

"Oh, hi General." Al's voice was a bit muffled by the boxes. "Well, I'm here, I figured I'd at least _do_ something. Better than sitting around doing nothing, right?"

"Plus he's working off his debt for staying at my place," Havoc added with a grin.

"So if he stopped working you'd kick him out?" Havoc shrugged. "Alphonse if you decide you don't want to work anymore you're welcome to come stay with us."

"Yeah, because staying with the psycho woman and her psycho dog and psycho son sounds like a _great_ idea to the sane part of the population."

"What would _you_ know about the sane part of the population? You don't belong to it."

Roy looked between them, feeling ridiculously like he was watching a tennis match. _Damn_ could these two dish it out to each other. Al, who had dropped the boxes by some shelves in the back, laughed at the bewildered look on Roy's face. "They tend to go at it when they don't have any customers to keep them busy."

"I think a majority of the town has gone into hibernation until the military leaves," Havoc grumbled, a bit resentfully. "Are you guys any closer to figuring out this explosion thing?"

"We recovered a few pieces from the scene that we believe may have been a home-made bomb," Roy admitted. Normally he wouldn't have disclosed this kind of information, but it was Havoc and Riza. They knew military protocol backwards and forwards, they wouldn't go gossiping about anything he told them.

"So it was a bombing."

"That's what we believe."

"Wonderful," Havoc groaned. "You know we kind of live on sales here, General. The longer you guys are around the more business we're going to lose."

"I know. I'm sorry, really, but there isn't much I can do to speed the investigation along. We're doing the best I can."

"Don't worry about it," Riza said before Havoc could respond. "He's just mad because if he can't pay me I can't pay the bills and we're going to end up living with him."

"Yeah, because what right-minded man _doesn't_ want a trigger happy mother and her psychotic son living with him, right?" Havoc grumbled sarcastically. Riza's response was to slap him upside the head.

"Don't you have physical therapy today?"

"Why, you trying to get rid of me?"

"Is it that obvious?"

Roy chuckled. He was already starting to get used to the back and forth mock arguments between the two of them. He'd always known that of his team, Havoc and Riza were definitely among the closest (after himself and Riza, of course). It wasn't a surprise to see them getting along so well (antagonizing comments aside) in a different environment. Not to mention they'd had five years to work on this relationship.

"So no one ever answered my question about Maes…"

"Oh, right." Apparently she'd forgotten the question all together. "He's at a friend's house, he's been bugging me since summer started to get him over there and today I finally did."

"Speaking of friends, Breda's coming over tonight." Havoc remembered suddenly. "So you're gonna have to fend for yourself."

"I fend for myself anyways, _I'm_ the one that does all the cooking at your house."

"That's because you don't trust me around a stove for God knows what reason—"

"Shall I remind you of the hamburger incident?"

"You promised you'd never bring that up again!" Havoc shouted, his face reddening a bit.

"Havoc if I followed through on even _half_ the times I promised not to bring something up, I'd have very little talk about."

"Riza not speaking?" Havoc snapped his fingers, grinning. "I'm there."

Riza rolled her eyes, looking away from him. "Don't worry, I won't bother you and Breda on your man-date."

"Our…our…our…" Havoc stuttered a bit, stumbling over his words. "What the hell, it is _not_ a man-date!"

Riza bit her lip; Roy could tell she was trying not to laugh. "Come on Havoc, there's no shame in it, if you have feelings for someone you shouldn't hide it, even if it _is_ a man."

"You…you're…ah!" Havoc shouted in frustration. "Is it one yet?"

Alphonse was practically on the floor he was laughing so hard. Roy had to admit, the sight was fairly amusing. Havoc was so agitated he probably couldn't tell up from down, at this point, and Riza was just shaking her head and laughing silently. "You are the most _aggravating_ freaking woman I've ever met," Havoc growled as he glared at her.

"Your life would be boring if I wasn't in it."

Roy was very happy with his decision to spend his day off at the store. Havoc and Riza were very amusing, and at the rare points when they _weren't_ arguing, he got a good chance to catch up with Alphonse, who had spent the last few years in Xing studying Alkehistry. "I have family in Xing," Roy remembered, smiling fondly at the memory. "My mother's grandparents and her little sister all still live there, my mother moved to Amestris with my father, she met him in Xing, he was a traveler. I speak Xingese fairly fluently."

"Really?" Al sounded surprised by this new bit of information. Riza just inclined her head a bit at the words. She'd known all of that. Just like she knew that Madam Christmas was his father's older sister, and Roy's foster mother; she'd taken him in when his parents had died in a car accident when he was seven. "I really could have used you when I was there, it was hell trying to understand people, I was lucky that Mei stayed with me most of the time, I don't know what I would have done otherwise. She tried to teach me a little bit, just enough to get by on my own, but I was terrible at it."

"Yeah, Xingese is hard." Roy redirected his gaze to Riza, who was just finishing up with a customer. "I tried to teach her a bit of it, she had no patience for it though. And she's a genius, by the way, she usually soaks stuff up like a sponge."

"I'm not a genius," Riza said, rolling her eyes.

"She's a genius," Roy assured Al, who was chuckling. "She used to make teachers cry because she knew more about their subject matter than they did."

"Riza? Make someone cry? I don't believe it."

Riza's response to Havoc's smartass comment was smacking him upside the head.

Around noon Riza left to get lunch. After a bit of debate, Roy went with her. _She_ was the one he wanted to see, after all. It made sense for him to follow.

"It's still a ghost town," Riza murmured as they made their way down the street. "Havoc's right, until you guys leave it's probably going to be dead around here."

"We're doing the best we can." The words weren't defensive, just a statement of a fact.

"Of course you are. Trust me, I know. This is just the way it is, nobody trusts the military around here, they were wronged far too many times in the past to accept that things have changed."

"So it's probably a good thing they don't know you and Havoc are former military." Riza shook her head slowly.

"It's not something we really advertise. What they don't know won't hurt them — or us. You met Crazy Larry, remember?" Roy shuddered, rubbing the back of his head. "Most people around here are like him — just a little less crazy. It's better for everyone involved that we 'conveniently' forget to mention that we used to be part of the military." Riza paused for a moment, her face hardening a bit. "I can't imagine what it would be like for Maes if people knew I used to military. Things are hard enough for him, he doesn't need _that_ added to the list too."

Roy made a face at Riza, surprised. "What do you mean things are hard enough for him? How so?"

"Come on Roy, use your head. I wasn't kidding before, if I can't manage to get my bills paid — and that includes what I still owe on the house, I'm going to be paying that off for the rest of my life — we end up living with Havoc again. I'm working every day and Maes usually ends up going in with me. Can you imagine being three, four, five years old and spending all day running around a tiny convenience store? I do everything I can to find somewhere else for him to go, but for the most part it's not possible. Rebecca takes him on her day off sometimes, but I can't ask her to take him on _all_ her days off, I know how rare they are, who wants to spend their only free time watching a five-year-old? He's been getting a reprieve for the last week because everything's been so dead, but usually he has to get up ridiculously early because I have to be _in_ early…how fair is that?" Before Roy could respond, Riza was already moving on to her next point. "Did you know kindergarten they have a parent's day? Parents can go in and see how their kids have been doing, what's going on in the class, all that. And I really planned on going, Havoc was letting me leave work early and everything, and right as I was about to go these huge rush came in and I just couldn't get out. The only Godsend was that it happened to be Rebecca's day off and she was hanging around so she went instead of me. I _promised_ him I would go, he even _watched_ while I asked Havoc for that afternoon off. And Rebecca ended up going in my place. I can't even imagine how disappointed he must have been. Even _my_ father managed to get himself to parent's days, and he was a borderline recluse. How crazy is that? My father was a better parent than me."

Roy had heard just about enough. "Okay, that's it. Riza do you _hear_ yourself? Your father used you as a human notepad, _monkeys_ are better parents than him. Maes worships the ground you walk on, you're his entire _world_." Riza didn't look completely reassured by this. "You know the other day when I went to the deli with him and Alphonse, you're all he talked about the entire time. He went on and on about what a great mother you are, and how he always has so much fun with you, and he _loves_ hanging out at the store because he doesn't know anyone else who gets to do that and it makes him feel special. And you know what, about that parent's day thing, I'm sure he understood, he knows you work hard. And I bet he loved showing off his precious Aunt 'Becca, lord knows _she's_ one proud Godmother. She cornered me in the cafeteria yesterday and show me all the damn pictures she has of Maes, almost reminded me of Hughes…" Roy chuckled at the memory. He was pleased when Riza managed a weak smile as well. "That little boy loves you, Riza. He doesn't regret any part of his life. He has all he needs — a life he loves and a mother he's insanely proud of and grateful to have. What more can a person ask for?"

Roy could tell he'd gotten through to Riza, at least a little. She looked slightly more reassured than she had when they'd begun this discussion. "I just don't want him to resent anything later on."

"He loves you. What could he _possibly_ resent?"

Havoc left at about one to go to physical therapy. Riza ended up closing the store at five. "There's really no point in staying open…"

Al separated from Riza and Roy as they locked up the store, saying something about going to the edge of town and seeing if the blockade had been lifted (Roy warned him not to have high hopes). Roy rocked back on his heels as he watched Riza turn they key in the lock, wondering what he was going to do _now_. It went without saying that he didn't exactly want to separate from Riza — but he couldn't exactly follow her home either.

Riza solved that problem for him.

"Do you want to come over? I told Maes I'd make beef stew tonight."

Roy had fond memories of Riza's beef stew. He couldn't help but grin at the thought of it. "If you don't mind feeding me, sure."

Riza smiled softly. "I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mind."

It was a fairly short walk from the store to Riza's house. It was kind of a cute little place, one level, box-shaped. The front door opened up into a surprisingly messy living room. One doorway led into a hallway that Roy, from his vantage point at the door, couldn't see down. Another led into the kitchen.

Riza took Roy's coat, putting it in the closet next to the front door along with her own, then started into the kitchen. "Maes should be home soon, so don't expect the quiet to last too long," she cracked dryly as she started pulling ingredients out of the fridge and cabinet.

"I figured as much. I couldn't help but notice that your living room's fairly messy. Kind of a surprise for a neat freak like you."

"You try keeping a house clean with a five year old and a dog running around." Riza's tone was that of a joking one. "You're not exactly one to throw stones, you don't have the corner on being organized yourself."

Roy chuckled. "You'd probably cry if you could see my desk now, I can't find _anything_. I can't even find a pen half the time, I have to steal one out Fuery's or Breda's or Ross' desk when they aren't around."

"That doesn't surprise me, it probably hasn't been cleaned out since before I left."

They both laughed, each choosing not to pay mind to the slight twinges they felt when Riza mentioned her abrupt departure from the military. Roy ran his eyes quickly over the kitchen, his gaze eventually landing on the window over the sink; aligned along the sill were several tiny stone animal figurines. Riza's eyes followed Roy's line of sight; she smiled when she saw what he was looking at.

"He likes making those."

"He's really good," Roy murmured as he reached out, taking the small squirrel figurine gently between his fingers. "Especially considering he can't have been studying that long…"

"About half a year. Him and a friend he met in kindergarten study together, his mother's an alchemist, she lets them use her books and notes. He'll probably come home with a book tonight, actually. He really loves alchemy."

_More like he really loves seeing and making his mother smile_, Roy thought, but didn't say as he set the squirrel back on the window sill. "He said you told him his father was an alchemist."

Riza was quiet for a long time. "Yeah," she finally answered, her eyes focusing on the carrots she was currently cutting. "He was."

_Was_. Roy noted the use of the past tense and wondered if it was because Maes' father was dead, or if Riza was just trying to throw him off. "Was he a state alchemist?" He asked, trying to sound nonchalant. As if Riza would fall for that.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you curiosity killed the alchemist?"

Roy snorted. He still remembered the first time she'd used that ridiculous line on him.

_"So what happened to your mom?"_

_Riza looked up from the book she was reading, narrowing her eyes at the teen sitting on the floor in front of her. "What do you care?" She asked, a bit more roughly than what Roy thought was _really_ necessary. It was just a question after all._

_"I'm just curious."_

_She didn't answer, choosing instead to go back to her book. Roy looked down at the book sitting in his lap, than at the closed door of his teacher's study, then back at his teacher's daughter. "Will you get mad at me if I ask again?" He'd learned, over the month that had passed since he'd first come to stay with the Hawkeyes, that Riza had a short temper, though she masked it well from everyone else, putting off the illusion that she was a sweet, quiet, _timid_ little girl. She was a good actress._

_"You shouldn't ask about things so much. Curiosity killed the alchemist, you know."_

_Roy gulped. He wondered if that was threat._

"As a matter of fact yes, somebody _did_ tell me that once. A very annoying, very self-righteous midget blonde girl who thought she knew everything there was to know about anything." Roy momentarily wondered if Riza was going to kill him for that comment. But then she smirked. She knew he was kidding.

"Maybe that girl had a point. You should listen to her, she sounds like she's very smart."

"Yeah…she is," Roy admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Smartest thing she ever did was getting herself out from under me. I always knew she could do better than following me for the rest of her life."

Riza silently scooped up the cut carrots, setting them aside, pulling a potato towards her and beginning to peel it. "You know I would have stayed, I promised I would follow you to the top. I just…couldn't. Not with Maes. If something had happened to me…"

Her voice trailed off, and Roy saw her shudder just a bit. His eyes drifted over the left side of her neck; though it was currently hidden by her hair, he could still imagine the scar that resided there. Though there was no chance of something to _that_ caliber ever happening again, it was still true that being in the military was a dangerous job, even without the threat of homunculus. Roy didn't blame her a bit for getting out.

His fingers moved of their own accord, pushing her hair away from her neck and exposing the pale, disturbing scar. Roy still had nightmares about that damn day, watching her bleed out, the life slowly draining from her eyes even as she silently ordered him not to do something stupid…

She stiffened as he began running his fingers along the scar. "Roy…" Her voice shook as she forced his name out.

_"Roy…we can't_…_"_

_Even as she protested she didn't push him away as he ran his lips along the raised, mutilated skin of her neck. His bare chest pressed against hers, the contact of their skin melding them together as he slid inside her…_

Roy's breath caught as he yanked his hand away from her, startled by the sudden onslaught of images. He blinked as his mind brought him back to reality.

Riza looked over her shoulder at Roy, confusion alight in her eyes. "Something wrong?"

It was probably just an old dream, Roy reasoned. It didn't seem at all familiar to him, but he'd had so many dreams involving his former lieutenant in his bed that he was bound to lose track at one point or another.

"Nothing. It's nothing, don't worry about it."

Riza made a face as she went back to the potato peeling. She looked over at the pot on the stove; the water was boiling. She finished peeling the potatoes and cut them quickly before putting them with the rest of the cut up vegetables and scooping them all into her hands, dropping them in the pot of boiling water.

"Roy could you get the skillet—"

She froze mid-sentence as she turned around and nearly ran into Roy, who had relocated so he was right behind her. All coherent thought ran from her mind. She ducked her head, swallowing hard and trying to ignore the way her face heated up. "S-Sorry—" she started to stutter. Her apology was abruptly cut off as Roy tucked his fingers under her chin, coaxing her head up again so she was facing him.

"I really missed you," he murmured, his lips barely moving. Riza had forgotten how to breathe. There was absolutely nothing she could do as he moved closer to her, leaning in, their lips inches apart…

The sound of the front door opening and Hayate barking excitedly broke the spell. Riza used the distraction to her advantage, pulling away from Roy and sliding along the counter so she could walk around him.

"Hi Mom!" Maes piped as he ran into the kitchen. Riza smiled as she knelt down in front of him, resting a hand on his head.

"Hey Maes. Did you have a good day at Jacob's?"

"Ahuh!" Maes nodded excitedly, holding up a book clutched tightly in his hand. "Look, Jake's mom gave me a new book, will you help me with it later?"

Maes missed it, but Roy saw the look that flashed momentarily across Riza's face. Roy knew she understood more about alchemy than she let on; her father had tried valiantly to teach it to her before giving up and taking on a student instead. She'd read almost every book her father had owned. And she had _no_ patience for it.

"How about an actual alchemist helps you instead, Maes?" Roy spoke up, drawing the boy's attention to him. Maes' face lit up.

"Really? You'd do that?" Roy nodded. "_Awesome_! Can he help Mom?"

Roy couldn't remember a time when Riza had looked more grateful. "If he doesn't mind, sure. He'd probably be more helpful than me anyways."

"Yay!" Maes jumped up and down happily; Roy was surprised he didn't hit the ceiling. Riza laughed as she stood up.

"All right, go put the book in your room and change, supper's in half an hour."

"'Kay!" Maes was still beaming as he ran out of the kitchen. Roy smiled as he watched the boy run.

"He's easy to please."

"Five year olds generally are."

There were no words for how wonderful the rest of the night was to Roy. His memories of Riza's stew didn't do the actual food justice; he was pretty sure he'd died and gone to some kind of heaven when he took the first bite. "Mom makes the best stew ever," Maes informed Roy seriously. "Even Uncle Jean admits that it's good."

"He's never said that." Riza gave her son a confused look.

"He said if he ever said it to your face it would go to your head." Riza smirked as she went back to stirring her stew with her spoon. Roy exchanged a look with Maes, and they both laughed.

After supper Maes took a bath, then sat down in his room with Roy to look through the book he'd brought home. Neither of them saw Riza leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed over her chest, a sad smile in place as she watched them.

Rebecca was surprised when she opened the front door and no dog and no child ran to greet her. That was the first time in history that this had happened.

"Well I know they're home the lights are on," Rebecca muttered as she made her way through the living room. She looked down the hallway and saw Riza standing in the door of Maes' room, completely oblivious to the fact that someone had just entered the house. Rebecca smirked as she started down the hallway, completely intent on taking advantage of Riza's cluelessness. It wasn't often that she was unaware of her surroundings, after all. It would have been a crime for Rebecca not to take advantage of this fact.

She froze right she was about to shout "BOO!" when she saw what Riza was watching so intently. Maes and Roy Mustang. Sitting on the floor of Maes' room. Looking at an alchemy book. Maes was grinning widely as he listened to Roy explain the different arrays they were looking at, and even Roy was smiling a bit. He looked as if he were enjoying himself.

He looked like a father.

* * *

**Author's Note: **So I'm going to admit, a lot of personal stuff got into this chapter. I'm the daughter of a single mother myself, and I happen to know a lot of the fears that came from raising me by herself. So yeah, I incorporated a lot of my mom into this. I like how it came out though. We all know Riza has a lot of deep-seated insecurities (or I'm assuming she does anyways), and…yeah. I liked this chapter is the point I'm trying to make. Anyways, review please? — Sam


	9. Illusions

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — IX**_

"You know Maes really likes you."

Roy looked up from his lunch and saw Rebecca standing over him. "Really? Because last time I checked he hated me."

"That boy isn't capable of hating, it isn't in his blood," Rebecca said as she set her tray down across from Roy and sat. "He didn't like it when you upset his mother. You know how protective Riza is, she passed it on to him. But I think he's gotten over that. I saw you guys last night, you know, it looked like he was having a lot of fun with you. And I get the feeling _you_ were having a lot of fun too." Roy felt his face redden a bit and quickly looked down at his food again. Rebecca laughed. "I guess good feelings are contagious, huh? He was having such a good time you couldn't help but think _you_ were too."

"He's a good kid," Roy muttered, raising a hand and rubbing the back of his head. "Riza's doing a good job with him. Not that I'm surprised. She's good at everything she does."

"I wish _she_ believed that," Rebecca sighed. "She's constantly worrying about how well she's doing with raising Maes. I think it bothers her that his father isn't around, she knows what it's like to be raised by a single parent."

"If you can tell what her father did _raising_ her," Roy muttered. "And you know what, she turned out just fine — _more_ than fine, really. If she can raise herself without a problem, she can raise Maes perfectly."

"Tell her that, not me. You know what she's like with her insecurities, she doesn't believe anything _anyone_ tells her if it puts her in a positive light."

Roy frowned, picking up his coffee cup and taking a long, deep sip. "You know, she might feel a little better if she had someone around to help her raise Maes," Rebecca suggested slowly. "Someone like a father, I mean. I bet she wouldn't say no if you proposed to her."

Roy choked. He set his cup down roughly, spilling a bit of the hot liquid on the table, and coughed, trying to catch his breath. "Wh…wha…_what_?" He finally managed to gasp. Rebecca was smirking at him. "What the hell Catalina, have you lost your mind? Maybe you forgot, but you don't _like_ me, remember? Why would you want me to even _ask_ your best friend to marry me? If the thought had ever even crossed my mind, that is."

"Whether or not _I_ like you isn't the point. Riza happens to like you quite a lot, though _why_ I can't even _begin_ to imagine. You know she's been a lot happier since you walked back into her life." Roy didn't know what to say to that. "Here," Rebecca reached into her back pocket, pulling out a small, rectangular photograph. "I've got something for you."

She held the photo out to Roy, who took it between his fingers, staring at it with a certain amount of enthrallment. It was a picture of Riza and Maes (the boy couldn't have been more than three years old) standing in front of their house. Maes was reaching up, grinning widely, his fingers wrapped tightly around Riza's wrist, her hands resting on his shoulders as she smiled softly. Roy's lips quirked into a smile as well as he stared at the picture.

"That was right after they moved into the house," Rebecca explained, smiling fondly at the memory. "Havoc and I made them take pictures in every room, we joined in for a few of them too, but I didn't think you'd want a picture with me and Havoc in it."

"Yeah, thanks for the consideration." Roy smiled despite the sarcasm. Rebecca sighed, shaking her head. God, this man was _so_ in love. It wasn't fair that he was denying himself — and Riza — what could be a wonderful life, if only the two weren't so damn stubborn.

And Maes _did_ deserve a father…

* * *

"Oh _great_," Riza groaned as she turned her head up to the sky, letting the rain pelt her face. There'd been no rain in the forecast, of course, but who could ever listen to the weathermen, right? "I knew I should have let Alphonse go instead," she sighed, raising her hands to rub her arms, which were currently bare of any kind of cover. She would never admit that she should have listened to Havoc when he told her to take the umbrella because the sky looked funky. Riza being Riza though, she hadn't been able to bring herself to listen to him.

Now she was regretting it.

"Absolutely wonderful," she sighed again, tightening her grip on the bag of sandwiches and continuing down the street. She wasn't too far away from the store, at least. Maybe she wouldn't get that wet…

That theory was completely disproved.

"You look like a drowned rat," Havoc commented as Riza squelched back into the store. She glared at him, tossing the sandwich bag onto his lap. "Maes go get your mother a towel from the back."

"'Kay." Maes hopped off the counter and ran in back.

"The sandwiches didn't get wet, did they?" Havoc asked as he opened the bag, peaking inside. Riza responded by slapping him upside the head.

"Here you go Mom," Maes chirped as he ran back out front, handing his mother a towel. Riza smiled, ruffling Maes' hair.

"Thanks bud." She raised the towel up to her head, rubbing her hair dry.

"Well it looks like the food survived at least…"

"Havoc do you ever _not_ think with your stomach?" Riza demanded, moving the towel away from her face. Havoc just smirked, pulling his sandwich out of the bag and unwrapping it.

"What else _would_ I think with? You're always claiming I don't have a mind, after all."

"And I maintain that fact," Riza mumbled as she ran the towel along her arms, wiping the water away and raising goose bumps. She shivered. Havoc chuckled.

"Take the umbrella that's in the back, go home, and change," he suggested as he took a bite of his sandwich. I'm sure we're not about to be overwhelmed by business or anything, we can live without you for a few more minutes."

"No, it's fine. I'll live, it's just a little bit of water."

"Riza you look like you were standing under your shower with all your clothes on."

"You should go change," Maes piped up. "You're gonna get sick."

"Thanks mini Havoc." Riza smiled softly as she patted her son's head.

"I'd take that as a compliment if I were you, buddy."

Along with the rain came the death of any chance they might've had for getting customers that afternoon. Riza leaned against the counter (every now and again suppressing a shiver that her wet clothes brought to life), staring at the door as if _that_ would somehow bring a customer into the store. Havoc, from his spot on the other side of the counter, sighed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the counter, putting his chin on his palms.

"So…Rebecca told me Roy was over your house last night."

"You and Rebecca gossip like old women." Riza rolled her eyes before redirecting her gaze towards the door that led to the back; the only thing separating Alphonse and Maes from what was surely going to be a personal conversation. "God, don't you guys have _anything_ better to do with your time than talk about _my_ life?"

"When you're the only thing that connects the two of us, no, we don't."

"Yeah, the fact that you're both madly in love with each other doesn't have _anything_ to do with the fact that you're constantly talking, right?"

Havoc turned beet red, stuttering a few times as he tried to articulate his words. "What…no…I mean…we're not talking about _me_!" He finally managed to choke out. Riza smirked. She loved making him squirm.

"Maybe we should be, it sounds like you've got a far more interesting story going on in your life than I do."

"Don't change the subject," Havoc said, a bit harsher than necessary. "Maes seems to like Roy quite a bit, you know, maybe you should give it a chance. You never know what might happened."

"Maes has spent all of maybe ten hours with Roy. They barely know each other. How can you say Maes _likes_ him?"

Before Riza could say anything, the bell over the door rang, and two blonde heads snapped around hopefully. Their faces fell almost instantly. "Gee, that's probably the worst reaction I've ever gotten when I walked into a room," Roy joked as he let the door close behind him.

"Are you going to buy anything?" Havoc asked. Holding on to a kind of false hope, Riza assumed.

"Sorry, I'm poor."

"Of course," Havoc sighed, running a hand through his hair. "At the rate we're going, we'll be shutting down the store by the end of the week you know. This bomb might as well have blown up _our_ store for all the good we're doing here."

"Yeah, but you know we'd all miss your bright and smiling face."

Havoc glared at Riza, easily recognizing the not-so-hidden sarcasm in her voice. Before he could retaliate though, the door leading out back swung open. "Roy!" Maes cheered as his eyes landed on the raven-haired man. Riza wasn't sure what was more confusing; the fact that her heart seemed to soar as Maes bolted around the corner, running to Roy and wrapping his arms around his waist, or the fact that at the same time her heart seemed to sink at the sight. Havoc just gave her a look that clearly said, _I told you so_.

"Hey Maes." Roy was smiling as he knelt down so he was face to face with the blonde boy. "What've you been up to today?"

"Al has been helping me with alchemy."

"I don't know much about helping," Alphonse chuckled as he came out of the back as well. "He had a very good teacher helping him last night, I think, I mostly watched today."

"Oh yeah?" Roy redirected his gaze to Maes, who nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, yeah! Come see what we made!" With that, Maes grabbed Roy's hand, dragging him forward with the strength only a five year old could possess. Roy stumbled a bit as Maes pulled him along, laughing the entire time. Riza felt weirdly helpless as she watched Maes and Roy disappear out back.

"You scared?"

Riza redirected her gaze to Havoc, who was watching her with some amount of concern. "Of course not. What the hell would I possibly be scared of?"

Havoc didn't answer.

* * *

Riza wasn't quite sure how it had happened. Everything had been going normally, for the most part, everyone had been happy, more or less, everything had seemed generally okay.

And then Maes had uttered those fated words.

"_Hey Roy, do you want to come over?_"

Havoc had bitten his lip to keep from laughing as Riza had struggled to keep her face from falling. No matter how happy Maes seemed to be with spending time with Roy, she hadn't expected him to turn around and invite him over the house. _Again_. After the fiasco in the kitchen the night before, Riza hadn't really planned on inviting Roy over. Ever again.

But of course, it had been _Maes_ who asked. He'd looked so eager. And Riza had absolutely no heart to say no to anything her son instead — especially when he turned on his bright-eyed puppy-dog look. The boy had a gift for manipulating people. Another annoying trait that Riza had passed on to the boy. She was beginning to regret just how much he was turning out like her.

And _that_ was how Riza ended up in the kitchen, feeling ridiculously like a prisoner in her own house as she tried very hard to ignore the deep lilts of Roy's voice as he and Maes talked about something alchemy-related. Instead she tried to focus on the potatoes in front of her that were in need of peeling.

If only steak and potatoes was a more difficult meal to make. Riza could have really used a distraction at that moment.

_Ring….Ring_…

Riza didn't even bother moving as the phone rang. She knew Maes would get it, he loved answering the phone. And sure enough. "Hello?...Oh hi Aunt 'Becca! Guess what? Roy came over again, and he's helping me with my alchemy, and — oh, okay. Mom, Aunt 'Becca wants to talk to you!"

Riza sighed as she set the knife down and went into the living room, taking the phone from Maes. "Thanks bud," she mumbled as she raised the phone to her ear. "What's up Rebecca?"

"_Roy's there _again_?_" Rebecca demanded, ignoring Riza's question completely.

"It wasn't my idea," Riza argued quietly as she turned away from Maes and Roy, who were already engulfed once again in their studying. "Maes wanted him to come over, I couldn't say no…you know what he's like when he wants something."

"_I'm not holding it against you_," Rebecca laughed. "_I think it's cute that Mustang and Maes are getting along so well. He'd make a good father, don't you think?_"

"Rebecca he's a lot of thing, but I highly doubt father material is one of them," Riza said, rolling her eyes. "He's a playboy, remember, he likes to sleep around."

"_That reputation of his has actually died quite a bit in the last five years. I think his last date was about nine months ago, actually. He just doesn't care for it anymore, I guess. Maybe he's pining over a certain blonde lieutenant_…"

"I highly doubt Havoc's absence from his life is causing him to not date."

Rebecca made an impatient noise in the back of her throat. "_You know what I mean Riza, there's no way in _hell_ you're that stupid._"

"You don't know what you're talking about Rebecca. Is this the only reason you wanted to call, because I have to finish supper—"

"_Aren't you just the domestic housewife?_" Rebecca chuckled. "_Actually I finally managed to rope myself a day off for Thursday, I was wondering if you wanted me to take Maes off your hands, I thought I'd take him into the city, do a little shopping_…"

"Would you?" Gratefulness rang loudly in Riza's tone. "That'd be great, are you sure you don't mind?"

"_Of course, you know I love spending time with him. I'll pick him up about eight, we'll make a whole day out of it. Sound good?_"

"Wonderful. Thank you so much Rebecca."

"_Anytime. I have to go, I'll talk to you later, 'kay? Say hi to Mustang for me_."

Riza growled as she slammed the phone down again. "Wow, last time I saw someone slam a phone down like that it was me hanging up on Hughes," Roy observed with a chuckle. "What'd Rebecca want?"

"To be a pain. As usual. Hey Maes, you wanna spend Thursday with your aunt?"

"_Yeah_!" Maes cheered, pumping his arms. He looked positively thrilled at the prospect. Riza smiled. As Rebecca would put it, at least _one_ member of the male population didn't detest her. If only she'd open her eyes and see Havoc…

Roy chuckled as he and Maes once again returned to the book. Well Maes more than him. The boy really didn't need much help. And that left Roy with plenty of time for his thoughts, which were, ironically, focused on something the pain of Riza's life had said to him earlier.

_"I bet she wouldn't say no if you proposed to her."_

It wasn't that the idea of being able to call Riza his wife didn't appeal to him on so many levels. He'd long come to the conclusion that he was in love with Riza (and her sudden reappearance in his life had done nothing if not completely reinforce that fact. Absence didn't just make the heart grow fonder; it made it long more too). But obviously she didn't feel the same way, as demonstrated by the little boy sitting on the floor next to Roy. Whoever Maes' father was, there was no way Riza would have just jumped into bed with him unless she felt something _very_ deep for him. And as Roy had come to the conclusion that there was no way Maes' conception had been anything but voluntary, that was the only option he was left with. Whether Maes' father was dead, or had walked out, Riza had been falling, if she hadn't already fallen, in love with him. There was no room left for _Roy_ in her heart. As much as that hurt, it was a fact he was just going to have to accept. And damn, did it hurt.

_But you love her_.

If only she felt the same way. Roy sighed quietly, running a hand through his hair. He'd always known it was a long shot, him being with Riza. She was completely job-oriented, after all, and it would have been inappropriate in so many ways for the two of them to even _try_ to be together, no matter how right it may have felt. She just never would have allowed it. Before she'd left the military, and Roy had been going back and forth about it in his mind, all he'd been able to think about was how fair it would be if they missed their chance because of their _jobs_.

Now Roy realized that he'd never _had_ a chance to begin with. Somehow, that hurt even more, as if that were possible. It would have been one thing if Roy had just been able to harbor his false illusions for the rest of his life that maybe he and Riza could have been. That maybe someday, if she'd stuck around, he could have convinced her to give him a chance, to hell with the fact that they worked together, and they could have been together.

Roy was really going to miss the illusions.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Have I mentioned I hate college? /sigh/…I'm on Winter Break until January 19 and quite honestly, I already have this story written out, it's just a matter of finding time to edit. So I'd like to try and have the rest of the chapters up before then, there's only 15 in total — 14 and an epilogue. We'll see what happens though. Anyways review please? — Sam


	10. Where It Starts

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home  
___

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — X**_

"I don't wanna go clothes shopping!" Maes whined unhappily as they drove towards the city. Rebecca sighed. She'd expected that. Which was exactly why she'd waited until he was strapped down in the back seat to mention it.

"You're going back to school next month Maes. You need new clothes and I told your mom I'd take care of it so she wouldn't have to." Rebecca had been doing Maes' clothes shopping for as long as she could remember. She had a feeling Riza secretly enjoyed putting the unwilling boy off on his shopaholic godmother.

"Just a couple hours of clothes shopping, all right? Then we'll get something to eat and we'll do whatever you want to do."

"No clothes." Maes huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at Rebecca in the rearview mirror. Rebecca tried to smile.

"I know you don't like clothes shopping bud. But you grew over the summer, you're going to need some new clothes or you're going to be going to school naked."

"I don't _need_ new clothes!"

Rebecca thought about the last time she'd seen Maes wear pants instead of shorts. The pants had come up short, ending just a few inches above his ankles.

"You're getting new clothes Maes. End of story."

Maes huffed again, clearly not happy with this arrangement. _Of all the traits he could get from his mother, he _had_ to get shopping phobia_, Rebecca sighed silently. _Brilliant_.

Maes uncooperative attitude persisted throughout the course of the morning. Rebecca had to practically _drag_ him from store to store. She was continuously forcing him into dressing rooms, ignoring his insistences of "it'll fit Aunt 'Becca, I don't _have_ to try it on!"

"You know this would take a lot less time if you'd just go along with it," Rebecca pointed out as, over an hour after they'd arrived, they finally left the first store they'd gone into. Maes decided that pouting would be better than actually responding. Rebecca just shook her head. They stopped at the car to drop off their bags before going into another store.

It was after noon by the time Rebecca declared the clothes shopping part of the day over. Maes' uncooperativeness never went away. Rebecca had eventually given up on making him try on the clothes, choosing instead to just ask if he liked what she picked out then adding it to the rest of their soon-to-be purchases. If anything was too big or too small, Riza could bring it back. Rebecca had already gotten the hard part out of the way, after all.

"Are we _done_ yet?" Maes asked impatiently as they put their bags in the car. Rebecca sighed.

"Yes Maes, we're done." One year of back to school clothes shopping down. Ten to go. Rebecca couldn't exactly say she was looking forward to this. "Come on, lets go get lunch, then we'll figure out what we're doing for the rest of the afternoon."

"No more clothes," Maes insisted at once.

"No Maes. No more clothes."

They went to the café that Rebecca usually frequented during her lunch breaks. Quite a few people from headquarters often ended up down there; they had good food, and it was worth it to get out for a bit, considering most people spent their days cramped behind a desk signing papers.

"Hi Roy!"

Rebecca rolled her eyes, smiling, as Maes flew out of his seat, running over to the raven-haired man, who had just walked in. She wasn't about to admit to anyone — not even herself — that she'd intentionally come here because she knew that nine out of ten times this was where Mustang ended up on _his_ lunch break.

Nope. She'd never admit it. Not even under threat of torture.

"…and Aunt 'Becca made me go _clothes_ shopping today, I _hate_ clothes shopping—"

"As half of East City is now aware," Rebecca muttered as Maes hopped back into his seat, still beaming up at Roy, who was smiling back.

"Sounds like you had quite the morning."

"Yup. Hey Roy, do you wanna eat with us?"

Rebecca had seen that coming. She resisted the urge to laugh as Roy looked between her and Maes, clearly trying to figure out if that was a good idea. "Oh go on," she finally said, smirking a bit. "Unless you've got some hot lunch date waiting for you…"

Maes suddenly looked concerned. "Do you?" He asked, frowning. No doubt thinking of his mother, and how _she_ would feel if she knew Roy was dating.

"Definitely not," Roy replied quickly. Last thing he needed was to get on Maes' bad side again. He knew the minute he did something to hurt Riza, Maes would go back to hating him.

The boy grinned as he scooted over, making room for Roy to sit down as well. Roy couldn't help but smile as he took his seat, and Maes instantly launched into a tangent about how annoying clothes shopping was, especially with Aunt 'Becca. "You know what, next time your mother can take you clothes shopping," Rebecca muttered, pretending to be offending. Inside she was laughing. She couldn't imagine Riza trying to shop with Maes. She'd go nuts. It was a sight Rebecca would pay to see, really.

"Oh!" Maes' eyes lit up suddenly, as if he'd just remembered something. Before Rebecca or Roy could question it, he reached into the pocket of his shorts, his fingers clenched tightly around something as he pulled his hand out again. "I made this with Al yesterday, it's for you Roy!"

Roy was completely and utterly shocked when Maes held his hand out to Roy and his fingers uncurled, revealing a tiny stone figurine of what Roy recognized as the dragon symbol that was also engraved on his pocket watch. "I saw your pocket watch the other day when you were at our house, and I wanted to make the dragon, but I couldn't really remember what it looked like, and Al said his brother had the same watch so he drew it for me to copy and…do you like it?" Maes' voice took on a concerned note at the end. Usually this was the part where his mother exclaimed that she loved it, and he'd done a great job. But Roy was just staring at the little figurine, his face completely unreadable to Maes.

"I…"

Maes' face fell as he realized Roy hated the gift. "You don't like it, do you?" He mumbled, ducking his head and biting his lip. He'd really wanted Roy to like the dragon…

"No!" Roy exclaimed a bit more loudly than necessary; Maes jumped, surprised. "I mean, I _do_ like it, I just wasn't expecting…I like it Maes. Really."

Maes raised his head a bit to look at Roy, his amber eyes doubtful. "Really?" When Roy nodded, he raised his head the rest of the way, a wide grin spreading out over his face. Before Roy had really processed what was happening, Maes was on his knees and throwing his arms around Roy's neck.

Rebecca felt like an intruder on a moment as she watched Roy, after a moment of hesitation, wrap his arms around Maes' tiny body, returning the hug. She officially didn't care what Riza said; despite the blonde's doubts, Roy would obviously make a great father.

If only Riza wasn't forcing herself to be blind to the fact.

* * *

"Are you going to _survive_ to the end of the day?" Havoc asked, concern lacing his voice, as Riza's fourth or fifth coughing fit of the morning slowly faded away.

"I'm _fine_ Havoc," Riza mumbled, not daring to raise her voice any more than that. Her throat had been killing her all morning. "Stop bugging me."

"You know this is from the other day when you got caught in that rainstorm, I _told_ you to go home and change your clothes didn't I?"

"What are you, my father?" Riza asked in disbelief as she turned around to face Havoc, who was regarding her steadily.

"I'm just saying. _You're_ the one who's always saying you can't afford to get sick. Keeping that in mind it was pretty stupid of you to spend the day in wet clothes, don't you think?"

"Havoc…shut up." Riza shook her head, sighing. The sigh quickly turned into another cough.

"You really _don't_ sound good," Alphonse said with some amount of concern as he walked into the store. He and Havoc had decided (without consulting their female co-worker, of course) that Riza was in no condition to get lunch that day. Al had gone instead. "Maybe you should go home and get some sleep, Maes is with Lieutenant Catalina today, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is, and I'm not going home, I'm fine."

"I'm gonna end up calling an ambulance to haul your unconscious body out of here, aren't I?"

Riza decided the best course of action was to ignore Havoc's flippant comment, choosing instead to focus on unwrapping and eating her sandwich. Not that she got very far; each bite burned her throat as she swallowed. She gave up before she'd even gotten a third of the way through the sandwich. Havoc frowned as he watched her re-wrap it and put it back in the bag.

"You barely ate anything."

"I'm not that hungry. I'll finish it later."

"Promise?"

Riza rolled her eyes. Sometimes Havoc could really be very annoying… "Sure Havoc. If it'll make you happy, I _promise_. Okay?"

Havoc ended up forcing Riza out back as the afternoon brought a few more customers. "You look like hell, you'll scare them all way," he informed her as he ordered her into the back. She wondered if he was just hoping she'd sit down on a box and fall asleep.

Al was kneeling on the floor, scrubbing the tiles with a sponge when Riza walked out back. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he smiled weakly. "Maes and I were practicing with alchemy yesterday," he admitted sheepishly. "I never cleaned up the transmutation circles, I figured Havoc would get mad if he saw all the chalk on his floor."

"Honestly, I doubt he'd noticed. Havoc isn't exactly known for being Mr. Observant."

Al chuckled, but went back to his cleaning anyways. Riza smiled and went over to the sink, wetting another sponge and going to kneel beside Al, helping him scrub the floor. "Oh, Ms. Riza you don't have to—"

"I'm not allowed out front, Havoc thinks I'll scare the customers away. And you can just call me Riza, Alphonse. Ms. Riza makes me sound old." Al smiled a bit. "So I heard their going to be lifting the blockade soon," Riza said as they cleaned. Al looked up from the floor, his golden eyes lighting up slightly.

"Really?"

Riza nodded without looking up. "They're just about done with the investigation, Rebecca seems to think they're going to rule it as an accident — and she's getting all her information from Lieutenant Ross, so I'd say it's trustworthy. They can't find any ties to any terrorist groups, and I guess Mr. Ramsey — he owned one of the shops that blew up — had a bad history with playing with explosives and other things of the like. They seem to think he might have been tinkering with some stuff in the back of his store and something…went wrong."

"You guys have some real characters in this town, don't you?"

Riza laughed a bit. "I think Havoc and I might be the most normal people here, quite honestly." Her laughter turned into another coughing fit. Al's smile faded into a frown as he watched her struggle to regain her breath.

"I suppose if I said I think you should go home, you wouldn't listen, huh?"

Riza just smiled. "It's a cold Alphonse. It's not as bad as you and Havoc seem to be making it out to be."

_"Mom you sound sick."  
_

_Trisha smiled as she looked down at her concerned sons, patting their heads one at a time. "It's just a cold boys, don't worry yourselves so much." Edward and Alphonse exchanged quick, uncertain looks. "Now, what would you two like for lunch?"…_

"Maybe it isn't so bad now, but you shouldn't let it get out of hand."

"I appreciate the concern Al, but really, I'm fine."

To say Alphonse wasn't convinced would have been an understatement. He could tell this wasn't an argument he was going to win though (Riza really was very stubborn), so instead he went back to his cleaning, go over the ways in his head that he could possibly go about making the blonde woman listen to him. The outlook was pretty bleak though.

Riza started to stand to go re-wet the sponge. As she pushed herself up, though, the ground moved underneath her feet, sending the entire world spinning, and she wobbled. If Al hadn't reacted so quickly, jumping up and grabbing her shoulders to hold her steady, she probably would have been on the floor. She couldn't find it in herself to protest as Al half-guided, half-pushed her over to a box, forcing her to sit down.

"You were saying?"

"I think you've been hanging around Havoc too much," Riza joked half-heartedly as she rested a hand against her forehead, her elbow on her knee. "You're starting to pick up on his attitude."

"He's just worried about you. And so am I. You're not going to be able to take care of Maes if you collapse, you know. You should go home and get some sleep for a couple of hours, before Lieutenant Catalina brings him back."

Riza just shook her head, smiling a bit. She appreciated Al's concern, for her, really she did. It was unnecessary though. The problem was convincing _him_ of that fact. She ran a hand through her hair, pulling in a deep breath and cringing when a sharp pain shot through her neck. Damn it she could _not_ let this get to her. It was just a little cold. She needed to stay strong. She'd rest for a few minutes to appease Al, and then get back to work. Yeah. It was a good idea.

Al went back to work while Riza took a few minutes to recover. "Al…can I ask you a question? It's kind of personal."

Al didn't seem at all put off by the warning. "Yeah sure, go for it."

Riza hesitated for a moment before finally giving voice to her thoughts. "Your father left when you were young, didn't he?" Al looked up from his work, a bit surprised by the question.

"Yeah, he did. I don't really remember much about him from before he left. He spent most of his time in his study working, the most I remember is standing at the door with Ed watching him."

"I know that feeling," Riza mumbled as an involuntary image of her father's back, hunched over his desk as he studied ferociously. Al tilted his head at Riza, clearly confused. "My father was an alchemist too. After my mother died he basically locked himself in his study for six years until someone finally came and asked him to be his teacher."

"General Mustang." Riza looked up in surprise at Roy. "That day he went to the deli with me and Maes, Maes asked the general how long he'd known you, and he told us."

"Of course he did." Riza smiled a bit. "Yeah, it was General Mustang."

"You two have been together for a long time, haven't you?"

Riza wasn't sure how to answer that, considering she and Roy hadn't really _been_ together in almost six years…

"How old were you when your mother died?" Al asked when he realized Riza wasn't going to respond to his last statement. Riza bit her lip. She didn't like talking about her mother. But Al _had_ just told her about his father…

"I was six," she finally responded, rubbing her itching eyes. "I grew up in a small town, a lot like Risembool, actually. It was a really suppressed town though, the military had all kinds of restrictions and limitations in place, made people a bit uptight. Alchemists were especially disliked, even if they weren't part of the military." Al stiffened as he realized where Riza was going with this story.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said quietly. He knew what it was like to have a story he didn't want to relate to other people. He would never force anyone to talk about their past if it was too painful. Riza sighed, wincing as the sigh turned into a cough. Al frowned.

"I know, I know, I should go home," Riza said tolerantly, smiling a bit. Al stared at her, shaking his head and sighing. He knew he wasn't going to win. "Did you miss your father when he was gone?" She asked, abruptly bringing them back to the original topic of conversation. Al shrugged.

"I didn't really know him. And my mother loved Ed and I enough for five parents. Like Brother was always saying, we had Mom and we had each other. We didn't need Dad." Yeah, that sounded like Edward. "Maes feels the same way, you know. He has you and Lieutenant Catalina and Havoc — people who love him. He doesn't need a father." Riza smiled softly. She'd known Al would see right through her questioning and identify the reason for it. He'd always been the more sensitive, more insightful of the two brothers. "You know you remind me a lot of my mother." Well _that_ was a surprise of Riza ever heard one.

"Well I'm honored that you would put me on the same level as her." It went without saying that the Elric boys had loved their mother more than anything in the world. To have Alphonse comparing her to the mother he'd given up his body to try and bring back from the dead…

Riza sighed as she stood up, regretting the action the second she put her weight on her legs as the room began to spin. She thought she heard Al say something, but his words were lost on her as her knees gave out from beneath her. The last thing she was aware of before her consciousness left her was a pair of arms catching her right before she hit the ground.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hmn…not much to say except review, please! — Sam


	11. A Tangled Web

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — XI**_

Havoc looked up as the bell over the door rang Roy walked in. He bit his lip nervously. The absolute last thing he wanted to do was try and explain the events that had transpired just a few hours earlier.

"How's it going Chief?" Havoc tried to smile; it felt more like a grimace. "You know if you're going to hang around here so much, you could make yourself useful and _buy_ something, contribute to our pitiful sales."

"Maybe some other time Havoc. I'm poor, remember?" Havoc snorted. Poor. Right. He could afford to ride the train back and forth every day _just_ to see Riza. He was anything but poor. "So is Riza out back?"

"Um…no." Havoc sighed. He'd really hoped to be able to go along with a little more banter before he had to get to the serious stuff. "There was a um…problem earlier. Riza came down with a cold or something, it really knocked her around. She um…she passed out in the back."

Roy felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach. "_What_?" He didn't _mean_ to shout. It just sort of came out that way. "Is she okay?" He demanded, his head snapping back and forth, as if he expected her to pop out from behind a shelf.

"Well she was running a fever, and she'd been coughing all morning…think she might've caught that flu that was going around, Maes had it last week so it certainly wouldn't surprise me. Alphonse brought her home, I told him to stay there to take care of her until Rebecca got out of work. I'm gonna take Maes for the night and Rebecca will probably end up staying with Riza…"

Havoc's voice drifted off as Roy promptly turned and walked back out onto the street. "Yeah, see ya later Chief," he said with a slight smirk. He already knew where Roy was heading.

* * *

The softness and warmth that engulfed Riza was surprising, though definitely not unwelcome. She pulled in a deep breath, wincing as the breath turned into a cough.

She moaned as the fit died away and tried to focus harder on her surroundings. The comforting fabric that surrounded her felt oddly like her bed…had Alphonse brought her home? She couldn't believe she'd put him out like that…

"General Mustang. What are you doing here?"

Riza was shocked when Al's voice interrupted the silence with Roy's name. "Havoc told me what happened, I just…wanted to see if she was okay. Has she been asleep the entire time?"

"Yeah. She must be really exhausted. She's probably going to be mad when she wakes up though, she was fighting Havoc all day about taking off early and getting some rest…"

"That's no surprise. Did Havoc tell you about when she had pneumonia?" Riza groaned silently. She was _never_ going to live that down. Alphonse must have shaken his head, because Roy proceeded to explain, much to Riza' chagrin. "She came down with a cold, and she doesn't get sick often so when she does it really hits her. Anyways she refused to go home or even go to the infirmary, and eventually she just ran herself into the ground and ended up spending three days in the hospital after she collapsed in the break room."

"Oh God." Alphonse sounded horrified. Which wasn't anything compared to how Riza felt at having to relive that whole, embarrassing experience.

"Yeah. She missed a month of work trying to recover, I thought she was going to cry when she came back and saw the condition the office was in. Mind you we really tried to keep things in order, but Havoc and Breda have no organizational skills, Fuery was too timid to speak up, nobody listened to Falman, and they are surprisingly hard to make listen to you when you don't have the fear factor to play with." Riza smirked a bit at that. "She's a pretty stubborn thing is the point I'm trying to make. She'll never admit when she's sick, she hates to show weakness."

_I am _never_ going to live that pneumonia thing down_, Riza thought with a sigh as her body started to drag her back into unconsciousness.

"Why don't you head back to the store?" Roy suggested suddenly, surprising Alphonse. They'd been in the living room as they'd talked, Roy leaning against the wall near the front door and Al sitting on the couch. "I'll take care of things here, get a bag packed for Maes when he gets home and get him to Havoc's and everything."

"Are you sure?" Al sounded hesitant as he stood, slipping his shoes on.

"Yeah, sure. Definitely. You've never had to deal with a sick Riza, you don't know what she's like. I at least have some experience," Roy said with a chuckle. Al laughed as well, running a hand through his hair.

"Well I have to concede to experience. If you want I'll swing by later and pick up Maes to bring him over to Havoc's."

"Actually yeah, that'd be great…if you don't mind. Of course last time I checked he and Rebecca were shopping, so they might not be home until midnight…"

Al was laughing as he left.

Roy smiled softly as he made his way down the hall, peaking around Riza's half-closed bedroom door, his eyes landing on the still, pale figure of his former first lieutenant. She looked surprisingly peaceful in sleep, despite the sallow color of her skin. Roy sighed as he made his way into the room, taking the washcloth that Alphonse had set on Riza's head and bringing it into the bathroom to re-wet it. He wrung it out before going back to Riza and setting it back on her forehead. She stirred a little as the damp cloth touched her head, but relaxed again almost instantly.

Roy wasn't quite sure where the impulse came from, but suddenly he was leaning in, pressing his lips lightly against Riza's heated cheek. "Get well soon," he whispered before straightening up and backing out of the room again.

* * *

"Hi Mom!" Maes shouted as he ran into the house, a wide grin on his face. His joy faded to confusion when he saw Roy sitting on the couch, reading a book. His confusion was mirrored by Rebecca's. "What're you doing here Roy?"

"Come 'ere bud," Roy sighed as he set the book aside and held out his arms. Maes didn't even hesitate as he went over to Roy, jumping into the man's lap. "All right, here's the deal Maes. Your mom came down with a bit of a bug, she's pretty sick." Maes' eyes widened, fear evident in his amber depths.

"Is she okay?" He asked, his voice raising an octave.

"She's fine, she's fine," Roy said quickly, trying to alleviate the boy's worries. "She just has the flu, your uncle told me you had it last week too, it's just that. She's going to need to rest for a couple of days though, Al's gonna come over soon and bring you back to Uncle Jean's, you're going to spend a few days with them so your mom can relax. Does that sound good?" Maes nodded, though he still looked doubtful. "So hey, guess what? I made chicken noodle soup for your mom, but she's still asleep and there's plenty left over. So why don't you go pack a bag for your uncle's, and then we'll have some soup before Al comes. Sound like a plan?"

"Okay." Maes slid off of Roy's lap and headed for his room. Roy watched him until he'd disappeared into his room.

"_That_," Rebecca said, disrupting Roy's thoughts, "was incredibly impressive. Even _I_ haven't perfected how to break bad news to him and I've had five years to work on it. How did you do that?" Roy shrugged. He hadn't thought he'd done that great of a job, Maes had still almost freaked out. "Aw well, looks like I'm spending the night here," Rebecca moved on, stretching her arms over her head. "Maes' next question is going to be if Riza's going to be alone for the night, he won't leave if no one else is here—"

"I already planned on staying," Roy interrupted. Rebecca blinked, surprised.

"You…did?" Roy nodded. Riza stared at him for a moment, then smiled. "I should have known…well if you don't want to, I mean, I have clothes here, I've spent a few nights for one reason or another, it won't be putting me out at all."

"I'll stay. I don't mind."

Rebecca chuckled silently. _God_ was this man in love…

Maes frowned as he peaked around his mother's bedroom door. She was stirring a bit, her eyes fluttering. "Mom?" He whispered, stepping into the room. Riza groaned quietly as she forced her eyes to open, turning her gaze to her nervous-looking son.

"Hey Maes," she murmured, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. In the blink of an eye Maes had bolted across the room and jumped onto the bed, throwing his arms around his mother's neck and hugging her tightly. "Wow…did Aunt 'Becca torture you _that_ much today?" She joked quietly as she returned the hug.

"Roy said you were sick," he mumbled, burying his face in his mother's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I am, Roy shouldn't be scaring you so much. Come on." She tightened her grip on the boy's tiny body, holding him against her chest as she pushed the covers back and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, starting to stand up, groaning when the room started to spin. She sat down a bit harder than necessary, earning a concerned gaze from Maes. Okay, so maybe _that_ hadn't been a great idea…

"Maes why do you have your backpack?"

"Roy said I'm spending a couple nights at Uncle Jean's so you have time to rest."

"Of course he did." Riza sighed, shaking her head.

"Had a feeling I'd find you in here," an amused voice chuckled. Two pairs of amber eyes snapped around to see Roy standing in the door of the room, Rebecca right behind him. The man was holding a tray with two bowls on it in his hands.

"She was already awake," Maes defended himself instantly as Roy crossed the room, setting the tray down on the bedside table.

"I'm not faulting you Maes," he assured the boy as he straightened up, ruffling Maes' blonde hair and smiling before he left. Rebecca watched him walk away, then gave Riza a look that the blonde woman dutifully ignored.

"All right bud, let's see what Roy cooked up for us…"

"Has anyone ever told you you'd make a great father?" Rebecca asked as she walked into the kitchen, where Roy was spooning out a bowl of soup for himself.

"I've been told I'd make a great lot of things, but no, I don't think father was on the list," Roy said distantly. "Want some soup? It's not as bad as you might think, it's my foster mother's recipe."

"Sure, I spent all afternoon chasing Maes out of toy stores, I could use something good." Rebecca ceded with a sigh. Roy chuckled as he pulled another bowl out of the cabinet. "Well you certainly seem comfortable enough here."

"I had a long time to get acquainted with the kitchen, I've been here since five." It was almost eight now.

"You know Riza's going to throw a fit about Maes spending a couple days at Havoc. Her and Maes haven't been separated for more than twelve hours since Maes was born. They're pretty much attached at the hip."

"Well she needs time to get better. That's not gonna happen with Maes running under foot, she'll be more worried about taking care of him than taking care of herself."

"You know that and I know that. The question is, does Riza know that?"

"If she wants to fight me on this, then she's about to learn it."

"Roy's a really good cook," Maes said happily as he finished off the rest of his soup. Riza would admit, what little bit of the soup she'd been able to eat (each bite had burned as it had made its way sluggishly down her esophagus) had been amazing. Definitely a step up from her first experience with Roy's cooking — he'd somehow managed to blow up the stove. That was one of the few times Riza had been grateful for alchemy.

"Yeah, he is. We'll have to get him to come over again sometime and make this again."

Maes giggled. Riza smiled a bit before realizing she'd just suggested that they invite Roy over _again_. And have him _cook_ for them.

_The fever must be getting to me_, she groaned silently, resting her hand against her forehead. Before she could contemplate it any further though, Rebecca came into the room, smiling at the sight that greeted here.

"Hey Maes, Alphonse is here to bring you over to Uncle Jean's, you ready to go?"

Riza frowned as Maes nodded. Not that she thought Havoc couldn't take care of Maes or anything. But…

"Bye Mom," Maes chirped as he hugged Riza. She smiled softly as she returned the hug. No matter how much she didn't agree with this idea, she could tell she wasn't going to win.

"Be a good boy for Uncle Jean, okay?"

"I will!" Riza resisted the urge to laugh. Maes enjoyed torturing Havoc almost as much as she did.

"This is really not necessary," Riza informed Rebecca as Maes ran out of the room.

"Take it up with Havoc and Alphonse, they're the ones that decided they would take Maes. Not that Mustang or I are disagreeing, you won't rest if you need to take care of Maes. And you _need_ to rest. You don't want a repeat of the pneumonia incident, do you?"

"I am just _never_ going to live that down, am I?"

"Probably not." Rebecca laughed as she crossed the room and sat down on the bed next to Riza. "Just go with us on this and take it easy, all right? You're not going to be doing anyone any good if you land yourself back in the hospital."

Riza sighed, falling back on her pillow and closing her eyes. She needed to change into pajamas, but she was too tired to move. She'd just have to be a good girl and let her friends run her life — no matter how much the idea annoyed her.

And it _really _annoyed her.

* * *

Roy groaned as he stirred, his back cramped and in a great amount of pain. Riza's couch had_ definitely_ not been made for sleeping on. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and arching up, grimacing at the _crack_ that echoed through the silent room. A quick look at the clock told him that even if he left now, he'd still be late by the time he went home, changed, and got to the office. And he had a few things he needed to take care of before he left…

Riza inched her eyes open just a little, groaning when the light hit her pupils and instantly snapping her eyelids shut again. Good lord, when had the sun become so bright?

After a few moments she tried again to open her eyes, swallowing painfully as she raised a hand to cover her eyes and sat up, trying to ignore the pain pounding in her head.

The bed dipped as something put its weight on the edge, and Riza uncovered her eyes to see Hayate at the end of the bed, watching his concerned doggy eyes. "Hey boy," she mumbled, coughing a bit to clear her throat. A quick check of her alarm clock revealed two things: it was almost ten o'clock, and there was a tray of food sitting on her nightstand next to the alarm clock.

She blinked a couple of times, staring at the food and wondering where the hell it came from. There was a glass of orange juice, a bowl of oatmeal, and a note scrawled in familiar penmanship. She picked up the note first, blinking a couple of times when the ink on the page began to run together.

_Riza,_

_The oatmeal will probably be cold when you get to it. Sorry about that, I didn't want to wake you up but I had to get to work. I'll be back around five-thirty or so, I'm kind of back-logged on paperwork so it might be a bit later, but not much, promise. See you then._

—_Roy_

Riza stared at the note, rolling her eyes a bit at the part about him being behind on his work (when _wasn't_ he back-logged?) but smiling nonetheless.

_He spent the night in your house, made supper for you, and make breakfast for you before he left for work. And he's going to come _back_ later. He's getting way too comfortable here, and you're getting way too comfortable _with_ him here. Exactly what part of this is good?_

Riza's smile faded instantly.

* * *

Rebecca pulled up in front of her friend's house, smiling faintly. It probably wasn't _necessary_ for her to stop in and check on Riza — no doubt Roy had jumped on the first train as soon as he got out of work and was on his way there at the moment. But Rebecca wanted to drop in anyways, make sure Riza had really stayed in bed all day like she was supposed to.

Riza was lying in bed, staring at a piece of paper when Rebecca walked into the room. "What's going on Ri?" The raven-haired woman asked as she crossed the room, sitting down on the edge of the bed. After a moment Riza held out the paper to Rebecca, who took it and read it quickly. She smiled softly. "Well that's cute."

"It's bad Rebecca," Riza mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "It's really bad."

"What's so bad about it?" Rebecca demanded, confused. "You _like_ Roy, don't you? You've missed him in your life, isn't it good that he's back?"

"No!" Riza exclaimed, then cut herself off, coughing. "It isn't good, Rebecca," she managed to say when the coughing ceased. "This wasn't supposed to happen. He was never supposed to get involved."

If ever there'd been a statement that made absolutely no sense to Rebecca. "He wasn't supposed to…Riza what are you talking about?"

Riza pulled in a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment to collect her thoughts. "You need to promise," she whispered finally, eyes still closed. "Promise on your parents' _graves_, Rebecca, that no matter what happens, you will never tell _anyone_ what I'm about to tell you."

Rebecca was taken aback by this. "Okay…sure. I won't tell anyone. Swear on my parents' graves if that's what it takes."

"I mean it Rebecca. You can't run out of here and go down to the store and tell Havoc, or tell anyone else. Promise me."

"I promise Riza!" Rebecca said loudly. "Come on, you don't have to put me through all this, I won't tell Havoc, I won't tell Alphonse, if I ever happen to go to confession I won't even tell the priest I'm talking to, just _tell me_!"

Riza sighed, opening her eyes again. Rebecca was surprised to see the torture residing in her amber depths. "It was about a month after we were transferred back to the East," she began slowly, her voice cracking as she spoke. "About two in the morning, I received a call from a bar down the street. The bartender recognized Roy and he called me to pick him up, he spent the night getting drunk. I went down to the bar to pick him up, and…he was _really_ drunk, he didn't even recognize me. It was quite a chore getting him back to his apartment, to this day I can't quite figure out how I managed it. But I got him home, and I dragged him into this room, and he tripped and grabbed me to keep from falling, and you can imagine how effective _that_ was, we both ended up going down on his bed. And…I don't know how it happened, but one thing…one thing led to another, and…"

Rebecca's eyes, which had widened throughout Riza's story, were just about popping out of her head now. She knew, without Riza finishing what she was saying, where her blonde friend was going with this.

"Roy is Maes' father."

The loud, ringing silence that echoed through the room was shattered by a harsh, flat voice.

"_What?_"

Two heads snapped around to the bedroom door. And there was Roy, standing in the door, staring at Riza with a hard, unreadable look in his eyes.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Oh what a tangled web we weave…well, Riza weaves, at any rate. Hehe. Review if you want to know what's going to happen next! — Sam


	12. Coming Together

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — XII**_

Roy…was humming. Roy — Roy _Mustang_ — was _humming_. As he made his way down the street that would bring him to Riza's house, he was in such a good mood that he was actually freaking _humming_. Jesus, what was wrong with him?

_You mean besides the fact you're deliriously in love?_

Yeah. Besides that.

Rebecca's car was parked in front of the house. Roy rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to put up with that harpy…but it was a small price to pay to be able to see Riza.

Riza's and Rebecca's voice drifted down the hall from Riza's room. Roy made his way slowly down the hall, freezing just before he stepped in front of the bedroom door when he heard Riza say, "About two in the morning, I received a call from a bar down the street. The bartender recognized Roy and he called me to pick him up, he spent the night getting drunk." Roy's eyes widened. He didn't really remember that night. He remembered the hangover that had resulted from it, but not the night itself. And he certainly didn't remember Riza having any involvement in it. "I went down to the bar to pick him up, and…he was _really_ drunk, he didn't even recognize me." Oops. Roy bit his lip. Why was Riza even _telling_ Rebecca any of this? "It was quite a chore getting him back to his apartment, to this day I can't quite figure out how I managed it. But I got him home, and I dragged him into this room, and he tripped and grabbed me to keep from falling, and you can imagine how effective _that_ was, we both ended up going down on his bed. And…I don't know how it happened, but one thing…one thing led to another, and…"

Roy _really_ didn't need the mental images that were being painted in his head as Riza's voice drifted off into silence. Holy…hell…_why_ didn't he remember any of that?

Riza's next words drove all coherent thought from his mind except one.

"Roy is Maes' father."

Roy felt as if his stomach had dropped down to his toes. _No. Fucking. Way_.

Before Roy was quite aware of what he was doing, he was standing in Riza's door, staring at the two women and trying to figure out the best thing to say. Only one thing came to mind.

"_What?_"

Riza's and Rebecca's heads snapped around to look at Roy. Rebecca's eyes were wide — most likely with shock. And Riza…she looked as if her worst nightmare was coming true. Roy directed his gaze to Riza, who stared back steadily, despite the fear shining in her eyes.

"You're…kidding…right?" Roy finally managed to ask, his voice strangled. Riza ducked her head, dropping her gaze to look at her hands; her fingers were clenched tightly around the blankets. She didn't answer. "Riza?" Still no answer. "Damn it Riza, look at me!"

"Hey!" Rebecca snapped suddenly, jumping up. "Don't you talk to her like that—!"

"Rebecca," Riza mumbled, much to Rebecca's and Roy's surprises. She pushed back her blankets and stood up, swaying a bit when she was on her feet. She rested a hand on Rebecca's shoulder, half to hold her friend back and half to keep herself steady. "Maybe you should go."

"Forget it, I'm not gonna leave and let this jackass yell at you—"

"Rebecca, it's fine," Riza interrupted, her voice taking on a little more strength. "Go."

Rebecca stared at Riza for a moment, then turned to glare at Roy as she stormed out of the room. They waited, but no sound of a door closing reached their ears. Rebecca was probably in the living room waiting for the first sign that the fight that was to come was getting out of hand.

Finally Roy returned his gaze to Riza. He could almost _feel_ the fire burning in his onyx orbs. "I want answers," he said finally. "Am I Maes' father?" It seemed like such a stupid question to ask, considering he'd just _heard_ Riza come out and say it. But she needed to hear her say it to him.

"Yes." Her voice was surprisingly steady considering how unstable she looked on her feet. Roy closed his eyes for a moment, giving himself a chance to reprocess the information.

"Why…the _hell_…didn't you ever _tell me_?" He was surprised that he managed not to yell, considering how shaken and angry he felt at that moment.

"It was none of your concern."

And that was the straw on the camel's back. "None of my concern?" He repeated angrily. "It's _none_ of my _concern_ that I had a son for five fucking years and you never told me?"

His voice raised with each word until eventually he was yelling. "No." Riza's voice, on the other hand, remained calm and cool. "It had nothing to do with you."

"The _hell_ it didn't!" Roy snapped. "For the love of _God_ Riza, why didn't you _tell_ me?"

"What was I supposed to say?" Riza demanded, her voice raising just a bit, much to Roy's surprise. "'Oh by the way, a month and a half ago we had sex but you were so drunk that you forgot about it and now I'm pregnant?' Can you imagine how well _that_ would have gone over?"

"A lot better than hearing it five years _after_ the fact while you tell your best friend!" Roy shouted. "I had a right to know!"

"And _I_ had a right to hide it from you," Riza shot back coolly. "We're even."

"We're not even until you offer me a god damn _valid_ reason as to why you hid this from me for so long!"

"Do you _really_ want to hear my reasoning?" Riza demanded.

"Yeah, you know what, I _really_ do."

"Be careful what you wish for then." Riza took a deep breath before launching into the list she'd perfected over the years. "You're a playboy who sleeps with a different woman every other week, you have no sense of responsibility, you're lazy, you're arrogant, there was absolutely no way you would have been able to handle a child — and on a completely different note you had no idea we'd even slept together, would you have even believed me if I told you?"

Roy could ignore most of that other stuff. He'd revisit the list of insults later. Right now there was only one thing he wanted to address. "Would I have _believed_ you? Are you _serious_? How low of an opinion do you think I have of you? That's not the kind of thing you fucking _lie_ about, of course I would have believed you! And I would have stepped up, I would have taken responsibility, I would have done whatever I had to, I wouldn't have just fucking _left_ you with everything, am I really that kind of guy to you?" It kind of hurt, really. He'd always thought that Riza knew him better than anyone — better than his family, better even than Hughes.

Apparently he'd been wrong.

"I think it's time for you to go," Riza mumbled finally, looking away from Roy. He didn't agree with that — not at all. But she was probably right. If he didn't leave now one of them — most likely him — was going to say something they would regret later. He turned away, clenching and unclenching his fists a couple of times as he left the room.

But he wasn't done with this yet. Not even close.

He didn't notice that there were four pairs of eyes on him as he stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Maes stared at the door that had flown shut behind Roy, not quite understanding what he had just heard. The adults seemed to have more of a grasp on the situation though.

"Maes," Rebecca whispered in the boy's ear. "Why don't you go see your mom, something tells me she needs you right now."

Maes nodded, slipping off his aunt's lap and heading down the hallway. "What…the…_hell_?" Havoc finally managed to ask as he and Alphonse turned to look at Rebecca, who sighed.

"Sit down boys. It's a long story."

Maes received quite a shock when he stepped into his mother's room. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her elbows resting on her knees, her face buried in her hands.

"Mom?"

Riza raised her head, surprised to find herself staring into a pair of amber eyes. "Maes," she mumbled, dragging the back of her hand across her own eyes, trying to dry the tears that had been falling. "What's up bud?"

Maes didn't answer, choosing instead to cross the room as quickly as his tiny legs would allow. He threw himself into his mother's lap, wrapping his arms around her neck and hugging her tightly. It took Riza a moment to return the hug. "Please don't cry Mom," he whispered, burying his face in her neck. "It'll be okay."

"Don't worry about me Maes, I'm fine," Riza murmured, smoothing back the boy's hair. Maes sniffed, rubbing his eyes. He couldn't cry. He had to be strong for his mother.

He wasn't allowed to cry.

"Mom? Is Roy really my dad?"

Riza swallowed hard, trying to force down the lump that threatened to rise in her throat and dissolve into tears. She couldn't cry. She had to be strong for Maes.

She wasn't allowed to cry.

* * *

Roy pressed his lips together as he watched his men break down their equipment. After almost two weeks they'd finally finished their investigation of the explosion and were finally pulling out. Maybe now Havoc would stop complaining about how the military presence was ruining his business.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow at her surprisingly solemn superior. Roy hadn't said more than five words all morning. "You've barely said anything since we got here."

"It's nothing Lieutenant."

"It's probably hard for him to talk around that foot he shoved in his mouth," Rebecca spoke up, her voice unsurprisingly bitter. She'd been shooting daggers at Roy since they'd gotten in the car to drive out to town. She wasn't happy with the way Roy had acted last night.

That was something they had in common.

Maes bit his lip nervously as he made his way down the street. He'd gotten past the hard part, sneaking out of the back of the store when Havoc and Alphonse had been up front. Now all he had to do was have confidence in the fact that he remembered where the explosion had happened. With any luck, Roy would be there. And even if he wasn't, maybe there would be someone that would _help _him find Roy, that man with the glasses had been really nice…

He found the explosion site without a problem. He was pleased to see that Roy was indeed there, along with Rebecca. Oh good.

"Oh…my…God."

Roy looked back at Rebecca, who's eyes were wide with shock, then followed the startled woman's gaze. His own eyes almost fell out of his head.

"_Maes_?"

The little boy was standing on the other side of the tape separating the citizens from the military, watching Roy with wide eyes. There was no Alphonse, Havoc, or Riza in sight. Rebecca and Roy exchanged startled looks, and both darted over to Maes, ducking under the tape. Roy grabbed Maes' shoulder, dragging him off to the side and away from the crowd while Rebecca followed.

"Maes what the heck are you doing here?" Roy asked, kneeling down in front of Maes, who promptly looked at the ground.

"Are you mad?" He mumbled, his voice laced with tears. It just about broke Roy's heart.

"No, Maes, of course not — though I can't exactly say the same for your mother, does she know you're here?"

Maes shook his head slowly. "She's still sick, I was at the store with Uncle Jean and Al, I snuck out the back 'cause I wanted to find you."

Roy took a minute to process this. "Why did you want to find _me_?"

Maes swallowed hard before answering. "Because I didn't want you to go away again."

Well if Roy's heart hadn't been in a million pieces before, it certainly was _now_. As wrapped up as he was in Maes, he hadn't even noticed that had acquired an audience in the form of Maria, Breda, and Fuery.

Words didn't seem quite adequate at this point. Instead Roy just reached his arms out, wrapping them around Maes' tiny body and pulling the boy against his chest. Maes hiccoughed as he buried his face in Roy's coat and started crying.

If ever there'd been a heart-wrenching scene, it was the one right in front of Rebecca. She turned away, feeling like an intruder on a private moment. "All right, everybody get out of here," she muttered, turning to Roy's subordinates. "We have work we need to be doing, let's go…"

As the others walked away, Rebecca turned back to Roy. "Havoc's going to be freaking out, you should get him back to the store. We'll take care of things here."

Roy nodded to Rebecca, who smiled faintly before turning away from the pair — the father and the son.

* * *

"I'm dead. I'm so _freaking_ dead. She's going to kill me. No, more than that. She's going to kill me, then somehow manage to perfect human transmutation, bring me back to life, and freaking kill me again. And then she'll repeat that a few more times until she's satisfied. But she whenever she gets the urge she'll bring me back to life and kill me just for the hell of it. I'm going to spend the rest of eternity being brought back to life and shot, over and over and over and over and—"

"Havoc!" Al finally shouted, trying to cut off the man's ranting. "Just _calm down_, all right? We'll find him."

"I _lost_ Riza Hawkeye's son, there _is_ no calming down from this!" Havoc yelled, panicked, running a hand through his hair. "Oh god she is going to _murder_ me…"

Al shook his head, turning away and heading for the door. Listening to Havoc imagine all the wild and crazy things Riza would do to him as retribution for losing Maes wasn't going to get anything accomplished.

Before Al could leave though, the door opened, and much to his and Havoc's great, mutual relieves, Roy walked in with Maes cradled in his arms. "Oh thank _God_," Havoc moaned when he saw the boy. "Maes what the hell, where were you?"

Roy shook his head at Havoc, effectively silencing the man. Maes didn't bother to answer. Al noticed he was clinging to Roy as if his life depended on it.

Roy smiled faintly as he knelt down, carefully setting Maes on the floor. The boy raised his eyes to look at the raven-haired man. "Why don't you hang out here while I go talk to your mother?" He suggested quietly, ruffling Maes' hair. Maes looked doubtful.

"Will you come back when you're done?"

"If I don't, I'll be at your house," Roy promised. "I'm not taking off Maes. I promise."

Maes considered this for a moment, then nodded. Roy smiled as he stood up. "And apologize to your uncle, I think you just about scared him to death disappearing the way you did."

With that he left. Maes smiled sheepishly as he turned to look at Havoc. "Sorry Uncle Jean," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. Havoc chuckled as he finally realized _why_ that posture looked so familiar. It was the same stance Roy had always taken when he was trying to explain to Riza why his paperwork wasn't done despite the fact he'd had a week to do it.

"I'll let it pass this time Maes," Havoc finally ceded with a sigh. "But I swear to God if you _ever_ do _anything_ like this again, you won't have to worry about _me_ so much as you'll have to worry about me telling your _mother_. Imagine her reaction to you wandering around downtown without any adults."

Maes' face morphed into a look of pure horror.

* * *

Riza sighed, staring long and hard at the ceiling. Just as she had been all morning and all night last night after Havoc and Al had taken Maes and headed back to Havoc's house.

She was right. She _was_ right. She knew she was. There was no way Roy would have been able to handle raising a child. She hadn't gotten to finish her list last night. Not everything on it was terrible. When she'd left, she'd also taken into consideration the fact that Roy was still aspiring to be fuehrer someday. A child would have only gotten in the way of that dream. He needed to be focusing on his dreams, without any distraction.

Riza hadn't been about to let herself be the death of his military career.

Not that she _would_ have told Roy any of that, even if she'd had the chance. Last night, all she'd been able to think about was getting him to abandon the argument walk out of the house. And if insulting him was the only way she was able to do that…then so be it. It was easy for Roy to say, now, that he would have taken responsibility. He hadn't actually _been_ there when the responsibility was necessary. There was no way for him to say for sure what he would have done in the past. Anyways it was done, it was over with. There was nothing Roy could do to change what had happened. They could only move on now. Roy would go back to working towards his goal, Riza and Maes would go back to the quiet life they'd become so fond of, and they would all forget that this whole, ugly mess had ever happened.

They would all be happy again.

Riza only wished she really believed that.

A noise from the bedroom door startled Riza, and her head snapped up to look at…Roy. He was standing there, his eyes solemn, his face serious.

"We need to talk."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hmn…review please? — Sam


	13. Talking It Out

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — XIII**_

Riza suddenly felt as if she were incapable of breathing. The very air in her lungs felt as if it had frozen. She hadn't expected to see Roy in her house again. Or in this town. Or…in her life. Or maybe she'd just _hoped_ for that. She wasn't really sure. Her thoughts were a mess.

"I think I handled things badly yesterday," Roy said slowly as Riza sat up, then stood to face him. "Can we…try this over? Please?"

He sounded so completely sincere. Riza almost couldn't believe it. She stared at him for a long time, trying to figure out exactly how she was supposed to respond to that. "Roy…" She finally managed to say, shaking her head a bit. "What happened last night…you finding out…it doesn't have to change anything. You don't have to pretend you want to be involved, if you don't want anything to do with us, you can walk away, it won't matter."

She was surprised when Roy shook his head. "No…I can't."

"Why not?" She asked, a bit bewildered.

"Because I made a promise to a little boy that I wouldn't leave again."

If ever there was an answer that had surprised Riza more. "You…saw Maes today?" She whispered, unable to force herself to speak any louder. Roy nodded slowly.

"He decided to take matters into his own hands today and came down to the blast site to see if he could find me."

"He did _what_?" Riza shouted, regretting it when a round of violent coughs overtook her body. The brutal expulsions overwhelmed her, nearly forcing her to her knees. Roy crossed the room in two long strides, catching her before she could fall and looping an arm around her shoulders. He gently guided her back to the bed, letting her lean against him as they sat down. "Can't depend on Havoc for anything," she mumbled as she caught her breath.

"Give Havoc a little bit of credit, Maes is a sneaky little bugger." Roy smirked a bit. "I seem to recall a certain blonde child who used to sneak out the house at night to go to a nearby field and shoot off a gun she found in the attic."

"I was _thirteen._ Maes is _five_. I'm pretty sure there's a difference."

"Between you and Maes? Not really. Maybe no one's told you lately, but the kid's a carbon copy of you, Riza. Today is a perfect example of that. He saw you were upset, and he didn't like it, so he did everything in his power to make you feel better without thinking about the fact that he could get in trouble or get hurt." Riza didn't have an answer to that.

"You shouldn't make a promise you can keep," she said instead, going back to the original topic that had started this conversation. Roy made a face.

"Well I plan on keeping it. So it's a moot point." Riza opened her mouth to speak. Roy pressed his finger against her lips, effectively silencing her. "Give me a break Riza. Do you really think I'm just going to walk away from this? I've spent the last five years of my life going over and over again in my head what I could have _possibly_ done to drive you away. I sat in my apartment every night for two weeks straight drinking myself into a stupor and hoping that would somehow bring up a memory I had forgotten that would help figure how I had screwed up so bad that _you_ — the one person who had always believed in me — would walk out of my life. I attacked Rebecca every other day because I knew _she_ knew where you had gone, and I wanted to know because I wanted to talk to you, to apologize for what I had done, whatever I'd done. You were the only thing I thought about for five years, every minute of every day, non-stop. It killed me, not knowing where you were or why you had left or what I'd done to suddenly make you hate me.

"And then…you were just _there_ again, you came out of nowhere, and you weren't happy I was there, but seeing you again, just like that, it felt like…like I was _alive_ again. For five years I went through the motions of my pathetic life, and none of it meant anything because you weren't there. The last week and a half though, seeing you and talking to you and just _being_ with you…it makes the last five years disappear."

Riza felt as if her heart was attempting to beat through her chest. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She would never admit it to anyone, not even herself, but for years she'd dreamed of Roy somehow walking back into her life and saying almost exactly what he was saying to her now. Telling her he needed her in his life, that he wanted to help in any way he could. That he loved her.

Not that he'd said that last part. And he probably wouldn't. But Riza could dream…right?

He wasn't done yet though. "I want to be here for you. I want to be the father Maes hasn't had. I want to take some of those worries off your shoulder. I can pay off the money you owe on the house, I can help you with your bills, I can help you with Maes, I can do whatever you need me to. I can be whoever you want me to be. So please…_please_ Riza. Don't kick me out of your life. I love you too much. I don't think I can stand losing you again."

Riza's breath escaped in one long, disbelieving huff. No way…there was just _no way_ in hell she'd actually heard that. Was the fever causing her to hallucinate? Maybe she was dreaming, because there was just no possible way Roy had told her he loved her. In all the time she'd known Roy, she'd never expected him to return the feelings she'd harbored towards him for so long. She'd never even believed he was _capable_ of falling in love, the playboy that he was. She'd accepted the facts and moved on.

"Riza?" A finger tucked itself under Riza's chin, coaxing her head up so she was facing him. "You're crying."

Too late, Riza realized that there were, in fact, salty streams of water working their way slowly down her face. She gasped, pulling out of Roy's grip and raising her hand up to wipe the tears away. Roy caught her hand before it touched her face though, wrapping his fingers around hers and squeezing them tightly. "You don't have to hide it," he said quietly. "Just…talk to me. Let me in. Please."

She sniffed, turning her head away from him to stare at the floor. "I…don't know," she said finally, her voice trembling violently, making it impossible for her to articulate words. She was surprised when Roy pulled his arm away from her shoulder, choosing instead to snake both arms around her waist and pull her as close to him as he could manage. She rested her head back against his shoulder, closing her eyes and struggling not to let any more tears fall.

Roy's next words completely shattered that resolve.

"Just let it go, Riza. I'm here. Let it go."

And that was it. Riza turned in Roy's arms, burying her face in his jacket and giving in to the sobs at last. Roy held her tightly as she cried out all the pain and stress and misery she'd put herself through over the last five years. He held her as she cried for all the mistakes she'd made, and all the time she'd lost. And he resolved, in that moment, that he would never see her cry again. Not if he had anything to say about it.

And he was going to make sure he had something to say about it.

* * *

Maes bolted through the house as soon as Havoc opened the door, allowing him access. It wasn't that he didn't _believe_ Roy would be there. He'd promised after all. But the living room was empty, as was the kitchen, and this worried Maes a bit. Where was Roy?

He peaked into his mother's room, his panic instantly turning to relief at the sight that greeted him. They were both there, asleep, his mother curled up in Roy's arms, her head resting against his chest. Maes grinned, then started giggling.

"Oh the times you wish you had a camera," Havoc said with a quiet laugh as he came up behind Maes.

"Hang on a sec," the boy chirped, turning and running back to the living room. He yanked open the drawer of the side table, pulling out the camera his mother kept there, and running back to Havoc, handing the camera to his uncle.

"You're a Godsend kiddo," Havoc chuckled as he raised the camera, snapping a picture with a laugh. "Come on, let's get out of here before they catch us. We'll go make supper."

A loud scream shattered the peaceful existence that was Riza's state of sleep. She bolted up, confused and disoriented, blinking a bit and wondering why her vision was so fogged up…

Wait. It wasn't her vision.

"What the _hell_?" Roy bolted awake at the sound of Riza's panicked voice. He looked around, confused. Why was there smoke in the room? "Son of a…_Havoc_!"

Before Roy could ask any questions, Riza had bolted out of bed and was running out of the room. It took Roy a minute to realize he should follow.

Havoc and Maes were in the living room, coughing, with Riza standing over them, disapproval clear on her face. Smoke billowed around the ceiling around them. "What _happened_?" Roy demanded, looking between the three of them.

"The cooking _genius_ decided to try and make chicken," Riza snapped, not turning her glare away from Havoc, who was grinning sheepishly. "He seems to have forgotten that you're supposed to add _water_ to the pan as the chicken _cooks_."

"I said sorry," Havoc spoke around another round of coughs.

"We were just trying to do something nice," Maes added, his voice quiet. Riza sighed as she ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry Maes, I'm not blaming you. Come on, let's get the windows open, try and get some of this smoke out of the house. Havoc you turned off the stove, right?"

"Of course I turned off the stove," Havoc scoffed, looking insulted that Riza would ask such a thing. As she turned away though, Roy saw Havoc turn tail and wheel himself as fast as he could into the kitchen.

It took almost twenty minutes to get the smoke out of the house. "You are _banned_ from my kitchen," Riza informed Havoc harshly. He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Am I at least still allowed to _eat_ in there?"

"I'll think about it."

Riza chiseled the burnt remnants of the chicken out of the pan, filling up the dishpan with water as she did so. When the chicken was out of the pan and in the trash, she through the pan into the soapy hot water, letting it soak so it'd be easier to clean later.

"So how'd it go?" Havoc asked quietly, looking over at Roy, who was watching Maes with a large amount of interest; the boy was sitting on the floor playing with Hayate. He seemed much more relaxed now that he knew Roy had, in fact, kept his promise.

"Strangely, she didn't seem too inclined to yell at me. We actually managed to talk, more or less." No need to mention that she'd fallen asleep in his arms, crying the entire time. No doubt Riza wouldn't enjoy Havoc knowing that kind of information.

Havoc hesitated for a moment before asking his next question. "How are you with all this?" He asked finally. Roy bit his lip, still staring at Maes.

"I…don't know. I mean…how would you feel if you found out after five years that you had a son?" Havoc didn't have an answer to that. "It's insane. I'm not going to lie, I'm mad that she hid it from me for so long. But I can't _stay_ mad at her either, especially not after talking to her earlier. So I'm mad…but what can I say? She made her choice and I can't change the past."

"That's…very mature of you," Havoc said after a moment. He was right, Roy realized after a moment. Considering the way Roy sometimes reacted to situations… "You're not going to just walk away from this, are you?" Roy shook his head. "I didn't think so. You'd never do that to her, would you?"

No. He wouldn't. He wasn't capable of it. Even if he hadn't made that promise to Maes…it wasn't in his nature to turn his back on the people he loved.

Even if it hadn't escaped his notice that Riza hadn't been quick to return the sentiment when he'd told her he loved her.

A pair of tiny arms wrapped around one of Riza's legs; she jumped and looked down, smiling when she found herself looking into a pair of amber eyes. "Got tired of listening to Roy and Uncle Jean talk?" She asked, patting Maes' head. The boy grinned.

"What's for supper?"

"Well you and Uncle Jean ruined the big pan, so…how does macaroni and cheese sound?" Maes' eyes widened in excitement.

"_Really?_" Riza nodded. "All _right_!" Maes cheered, jumping up and down. To say he loved his mother's mac and cheese was an understatement. It took a lot of time and Riza was usually too tired, unless Maes really begged.

Maes disappeared back into the living room, and Riza went back to stirring the two separate pots of pasta and cheese. Her mind wasn't entirely on-task though. Or on-task at all, for that matters.

_"… I can do whatever you need me to. I can be whoever you want me to be. So please…please Riza. Don't kick me out of your life. I love you too much. I don't think I can stand losing you again."_

Roy's words rang in her head even as she tried to focus on the task of making supper. Her mind kept going back to three words in particular. _I love you_.

No. There was no way. It wasn't possible. She wasn't his _type_, she wasn't pretty, there was nothing special about her other than her ninety-nine-point-nine percent shooting accuracy and lord knew _that_ wasn't anything for a woman to brag about, she didn't have any — ahem — _assets_ that made her more like the other women Roy dated…all she had was one drunken night out of his life that had resulted in an amazing little boy that Riza would give anything for. That was it. Certainly no _love_ on Roy's part. Not towards her, at any rate. It didn't matter how much Riza loved Roy. He would never return the feelings.

It was a fact Riza had come to terms with a long time ago.

Dinner was a far from quiet affair, considering Maes was involved, but there wasn't much talking on the part of the adults. Havoc spent most of his time looking between Roy and Riza, who were both staring at their plates.

"Can Roy tuck me in?" Maes asked when it was time for bed. Riza looked a bit surprised, though it was nothing compared to what the statement did to Roy.

"If he wants to," Riza finally said. Maes turned his gaze to Roy, who instantly caved. How the hell was he supposed to say no to that look?

"Sure. Let's get you changed into some pajamas and we'll get you tucked in."

Maes grinned as he ran down the hall. Roy was chuckling as he followed. Havoc laughed as he turned his gaze to Riza, surprised to see that she was frowning, her eyes on the floor as she dropped onto the couch. "That's not a good look." He sighed, turning to face Riza fully. "What's going on?"

Riza just shook her head. "Just go home Havoc. I've got this under control."

"You haven't had anything under control since Mustang walked back into your life," Havoc argued as he turned his chair and headed towards the door. Riza stared after him, not liking how much truth there was to his words.

"Hey Roy?" Maes' tilted his head up to look at the raven-haired man standing over him. Roy smiled a bit as he sat down on the bed, an indication for Maes to nestle himself under the covers.

"Yeah bud?"

"Are you going to stay with us?"

Roy hesitated, for a moment. He'd already promised not to leave again, but that was completely different. He could a part of Maes' life and not live with them, after all. Riza couldn't deny him the right to see his son, but seeing was _all_ she had to let him do…

"I don't know Maes," he finally admitted, patting the boy's blonde hair. "I'm going to try, but it's really up to your mother." Maes' face fell. "That doesn't mean I won't still be around," Roy said quickly. "I can still come and visit, and see you at the store, and if you want maybe you could spend a weekend with me, if it'd be okay with your mom and I don't see why it wouldn't be if you really wanted to…"

"Yeah," Maes said quietly. "But I want us all to live together. I want to be a family."

Roy wasn't sure how much breaking his heart could take. He sighed, leaning in and pressing his lips lightly against Maes' forehead before standing up. "We'll have to wait and see what happens, I think." He really hated having to give that kind of answer. It was all he had though.

"Roy?"

The man in question stopped with his hand on the doorknob, looking over his shoulder at Maes, who was sitting up in bed, watching Roy with wide eyes. "Yeah?"

Maes fidgeted, as if worried that the question he was about to ask would offend Roy. "Can I…call you Dad?"

Roy blinked, staring at Maes for a long time. Of everything Maes could have asked…that was the last thing he'd expected to hear. "Yes, Maes," he finally managed to say, cursing the way his voice cracked. "Of course you can."

Maes' face split into a wide grin. Roy couldn't stop himself from smiling as well.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I'm very sad this story is coming to an end. I've kinda fallen in love with Maes, and from what I can see so have all of you. Review please? — Sam


	14. No Outs

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — XIV**_

Riza wasn't sure how long she sat with her elbows rested on her knees and her face buried in her hands before she felt another, larger hand rest itself on her forehead. She jumped a bit, jerking up to look at Roy, who was standing over her. "I think your fever's starting to break," he commented after a moment, resting his free hand against his own forehead. "How do you feel?"

"I'm all right," she sighed, carefully twisting away from Roy's touch. Now seemed like as good a time as any to address the issues hanging in the air around them.

"Roy—"

"Riza—"

They cut themselves off as they spoke at the same time. Amber eyes met obsidian, hesitation apparent in both pairs. "You first," Roy finally said. He really wasn't sure what he was going to say anyways. Riza sighed, scooting over a bit so Roy could sit next to her.

"We um…we need to talk about all of this, don't we? I mean…Maes, and everything." Roy couldn't help but wonder what "everything" was. "I know you said you want to help with Maes, and I'm sure you want a relationship with him, and I don't blame you, and I certainly can't stop you, you have every right to want to know him…and he wants to know you too, I can't keep the two of you apart. So I was thinking…school's going to be starting soon, and you work during the week anyways, but if you wanted he could spend the weekends with you, I think he'd like that, getting out of town for a couple days, going somewhere new—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Roy held up his hands, effectively putting an end to Riza's rushed, uncertain words. "You really wanna shuttle him back and forth?" Riza didn't answer. "When Hughes and I were at the academy together, he told me his parents were separated and he was _constantly_ going back and forth between them. And he hated it. Do you want to put Maes through that?"

Riza sighed. She'd never really thought it was a great idea anyways. "Well if you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it." Roy hesitated. There was always Maes' idea of all of them living together. But there was absolutely no way he was going to suggest that to Riza. He wanted her to be the one to present the idea. If it even occurred to her.

"Maybe we can just…sleep on it," he finally suggested. "It's been a long day and you need to rest, you're still sick…"

Riza ran a hand through her hair, closing her eyes. Yeah. The idea of dragging this torture out sounded just _great_. She couldn't argue though. Despite the fact that she'd slept most of the morning and late afternoon away, she was exhausted now, both physically and emotionally. She really didn't want to have to think about this _now_.

Roy frowned at the look on Riza's face. She looked almost…_defeated_. It worried him. "Riza?" He murmured, reaching over to take her hand in his; he squeezed her fingers lightly, and she raised her eyes look at him. "Are you okay?"

She pulled in a deep breath, swallowing hard. She wasn't really sure how to answer that question. Her head felt like it was spinning. Roy made a face, moving so he was closer to Riza. He was surprised when she stiffened just a little. "What's wrong?" He demanded. He was starting to get a bit worried.

"Nothing, nothing," Riza assured him, lifting her head so they were facing each other. "I'm…just…"

When had he gotten so close? There was barely any space left between them, all she would have to do was lean in just a little…

Apparently Roy had the same idea. They both moved of their own accord, closing what little space was left between them, they're lips barely inches apart…

_Ring-Ring_…

Moment. Broken. "Son of a _bitch_," Roy growled, jumping up and whirling around, grabbing the phone, yanking it up to his ear in one, furiously swift motion. "What do you want?" He snarled into the receiver.

"_Ex_cuse_ me?" _Rebecca's furious voice shot back. "_Who the hell do you think you are talking to me like that, what the fuck are you even _doing_ over there? And why didn't Riza answer the phone, did something happen?_"

Roy muttered a string of obscenities under his breath as he held the phone out to Riza. "It's your harpy," he informed her coolly. Riza gave him a slightly reprimanding look as he took the phone and held it to her ear.

"What's going on Rebecca?"

"_Just calling to check on you. I ended up getting out late, I knew I wasn't going to be getting out there to see you tonight. What the hell is His Royal Ass-ness doing at your house?_"

Riza tried very hard not to smile at the insult. "It's a long story…"

Roy sighed as he wandered out of the living room, giving Riza some privacy to talk to Rebecca. He made his way down the hall, stopping first to check on Maes. The boy was already sleeping soundly, his legs sprawled out over his bed, the covers kicked off. Roy chuckled as he walked over to the bed, picking up the covers and throwing them over Maes again. They'd probably be thrown off again before the end of the night, he thought with a smile as he backed out of the room again.

Somehow, Roy found himself in Riza's room. He hadn't really gotten a good look the last couple of times he'd been in there. Not that there was much to see. It was a simple room, white walls and white sheets with a blue blanket. The kind of room you'd expect Riza Hawkeye to sleep in. The only thing that set it apart from all the other simple rooms in the world were the three framed pictures that sat on the bedside table. Roy sat down on the edge of the bed to examine them.

The first was a picture of the entire team, taken not long before the transfer to Central. Roy smiled a bit. On the far right was Havoc, grinning at the camera, a cigarette dangling between his lips. In front of Havoc was Fuery, who was grinning widely. To Havoc's right was Breda, giving the camera a cocky grin, and then Falman, staring stonily as if he had absolutely no interest in what was going on (and he probably didn't). Next to Falman was Roy, smirking faintly at the camera. In front of Roy was Riza, who was betraying no emotion, but was probably annoyed that they were taking time away from their work to take a ridiculous picture. Roy smiled at the picture, still remembering how much hell he'd gone through to convince Riza to take it. She'd been very unwilling, the photo-phobic person that she was.

The second picture was of Riza and Maes. Roy couldn't tell where they were, though if he had to guess he'd say the living room of the house they were in now. The picture wasn't that old, probably on a couple of months, if Roy were to hazard a guess. Maes was being held in Riza's arms, grinning widely, and even Riza had managed a smile. She really looked beautiful when she smiled…

The third picture surprised Roy quite a bit. It was one of him and her together, though admittedly very old. He actually remembered the day it had been taken.

_"Look, all I'm saying is if people are going to hate you, they should at least have a legitimate reason. You deserve that much, don't you?"_

_Riza just shrugged. She didn't seem too interested in what Roy was saying. But as they passed more people who continuously shot Riza unreadable, annoyed glances. "That's just the way it is. People don't like my father because he's an alchemist, which equals them not liking me. Can't change it, no point in whining about it either."_

_"_You're_ not your father."_

_Riza stopped walking and turned to look at Roy, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you _care_ so much? If it doesn't bother_ me_ don't you think _you_ should be able to rise above it as well?"_

_Roy made a face, but didn't bother responding as they began walking again, turning to cut through the park. "Well aren't you two just the cutest couple," a voice cooed suddenly. Riza sighed as she and Roy turned to look over their shoulders at an older, gray-haired lady approaching them. A camera was clutched tightly in her hands._

_"Hello Mrs. Conrad," Riza replied, a bit reluctantly. "We're not a couple. He's my father's alchemy student, I'm just showing him around town."_

_The woman — Mrs. Conrad — smiled faintly. "Well _I_ think you're just adorable together. Here, get together, I'll take a picture of you both."_

_"But, but…" Roy started to protest, only to have Riza cut him off._

_"Don't bother arguing," she muttered, dragging him to stand under a tree. "She'll just keep pushing until we agree, might as well get it over with now."_

_Roy sighed as he did what he was told_.

They were both smiling tolerantly, giving the crazy old woman what she wanted. But looking at it now, it was the most beautiful picture Roy had ever seen.

"Roy?"

Roy's head snapped over to look at the adult incarnation of the tolerantly smiling girl in the picture. "Sorry," he said quickly, standing up. "I didn't mean to…um…sorry. I was just trying to give you some privacy with Rebecca. I'll just…um…yeah." He gestured to the pictures, in particular the one of the two of them. "I can't believe you still have that."

"You mean you don't?" Riza asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah…but I'm sentimental."

Riza smiled a bit, walking over to the table and picking up the picture in question. "Well, about ninety-nine percent of my happiest memories involve _you_ somehow, so it really isn't too odd for me to still have this as well, right?"

Roy chuckled. "Fair point." No need for him to admit that _his_ happiest memories all involved her as well.

"Anyways…" Riza sighed, rubbing her head. "It's late, you probably have work tomorrow. If you don't feel like going home you're welcome to stay here…I mean, you don't have to, if you'd rather go—"

Roy couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Riza so uncertain and _so_ uncomfortable. It was kind of cute, if not embarrassing for her. "Maybe I _should_ just crash on your couch," he said, saving her the trouble of having to come up with more words to say.

"You can have the bed if you want," she mumbled. "I've fallen asleep on that couch plenty of times, I know how uncomfortable it is—"

"So what, _you're_ going to sleep there instead?" Riza didn't answer. Roy hesitated before presenting his next idea. "You know…it's not like we've never shared a bed before."

"It's different when you're twelve and fourteen," Riza pointed out, correctly identifying the memory he was referring to; the time when the ceiling had come down on her bed during a bad storm. Even if Roy had been able to get up there and fix it (and with the rain coming down the way it had been, that was an impossibility in itself), her bed was soaked. Completely incapable of being slept in.

"Not for the fourteen year old it isn't," Roy said with a slight smirk. He was surprised when Riza laughed.

"You're so perverted."

Roy grinned, as if that had been the highest kind of compliment. And to him, it had been. As Riza's laughter died away, he held out his hand, palm up, fingers outstretched. An offering. Riza smiled tiredly as she stepped forward, resting her palm on top of his.

* * *

"…I have a son."

Okay, so it probably _wasn't_ the most appropriate answer to Maria Ross' question of, "are you feeling all right sir?" And considering the looks of utmost shock his words received, it certainly wasn't the answer anyone had been expecting. But as Roy had thought more and more about the events that had transpired over the last two days (not to mention the fact that Maes had happily chirped "Bye Dad!" as Roy had left the house that morning), the shock had really begun to set in. He had a son. _He_ had a _son_. Holy hell, he had a son!

"Um…sir?"

Roy snapped back to reality and raised his head to look into the dark eyes of his lieutenant. "Sorry, Lieutenant Ross. Did you say something?"

Maria seemed too baffled to answer. "Did you just say…you have a _son_?" Fuery finally voiced the question ringing in everyone's minds.

"No surprise," Breda spoke up, though he too looked shocked. "Guy's slept around so much he probably has a whole platoon of children running around."

Now _that_ was insulting. Sure, Roy slept around a lot, but he _always_ used protection. Unless he was drunk. And he'd only had drunken sex once.

Ironic.

Maria's mind seemed to be working overtime as she put two and two together. Roy had a son…Riza had a son…Maria's eyes lit up as understanding dawned on her. "Lieutenant Hawkeye…?"

Breda's and Fuery's mouths hit the floor as Roy nodded. Suddenly he really needed to get out of the office. "I'll be back in a few," he muttered, standing up and crossing the office in a few long strides and yanking the door open, stepping out into the hall and letting it swing shut behind him. Breda, Fuery, and Maria exchanged bewildered glances.

"General Mustang…and Lieutenant Hawkeye…?"

Roy wasn't really sure where he was going…until he ended up down at the shooting range. Rebecca was shooting, of course. Probably imagining the target was a certain bastard general. "Catalina." Roy greeted her dryly as he walked over to where she was laying. She tilted her head up to glare at him before pulling the trigger again. "I'm sorry about the way I answered the phone last night, okay? It was just…bad timing."

"Was I interrupting something?" Rebecca asked sarcastically.

"Not what you're thinking, no." Roy sighed. He didn't really know why he felt the need to apologize to Rebecca. He technically hadn't done anything wrong…but he needed Rebecca to not hate him so he could run this next idea by her and get a somewhat unbiased response. "She doesn't love me."

Rebecca looked surprised as she lifted her head to look at Roy again. Finally she stood up, tossing the rifle strap over her shoulder. "Walk," she commanded, turning and starting to walk away. Roy knew better than to argue as he followed. "Now why the hell do you think she doesn't love you?"

"Because she's had plenty of times to reciprocate." Roy launched into the story of the events that had taken place yesterday afternoon. Rebecca listened with some amount of interest as they walked into the office. She leaned the rifle against the wall near the door, closing said door behind her. She walked over to the desk and hopped onto it, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees, leaning her chin against her interlocked fingers.

"Just because she hasn't said it yet doesn't mean it isn't true," Rebecca said when Roy was done. "Did you ever think maybe she's scared? A lot's happened in the last couple of days, you know."

Roy frowned, looking at the ground. "Maybe…I don't know. What if you're wrong though?"

Rebecca was surprised. "You're really worried about this, aren't you?" Roy didn't answer. "Wow…I never thought I'd see the day when Roy Mustang was _lovesick_. It'd be cute, if I didn't think it was sad that you're so blind you can't even see how much she loves you."

Roy really wished he could find it in himself to believe that. He reached into his back pocket, pulling out the picture Rebecca had given him. Rebecca smiled when she saw it. "I can completely see you with a framed picture of the two of them on your desk, you know. Do us all a favor and make it happen, okay?"

Roy chuckled weakly. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

"So you're leaving?" Maes asked, frowning, as he tilted his head up to look at Alphonse, who smiled sadly as he patted the boy's blonde hair.

"Yeah. My family's waiting for me. I have to go." Maes pouted. "But I'll tell you what," Al quickly went on with a small laugh. "I'll come back and visit really soon, okay?" Maes' eyes lit up, and he nodded happily.

"'Kay!"

Al chuckled as he straightened up to look at Riza and Havoc, who were both smiling softly. "Thank you so much for everything," he said, shaking first Havoc's hand then Riza's.

"Of course," Havoc responded at once. "Don't be a stranger."

"Be safe," Riza added, leaving no room for an argument.

"Aw, you know me," Al cracked dryly. "I love the quiet life."

Riza and Havoc laughed. Maes made a face, clearly confused by the comment. Al smiled as he bent down to pick up his suitcase, giving the trio one last wave before starting towards the door. Before he even touched it though, it flew open. He wasn't completely surprised when Roy walked in.

"Oh — sorry Alphonse." Roy eyed the suitcase in Al's hand. "Finally going home?"

"Yeah. See you around." He saluted Roy, surprised when the man returned the gesture.

"Take care of yourself."

"And you."

Oh yeah, Al reflected dryly as he made his way out onto the street. He was _definitely_ coming back. He wanted to see what happened with Roy and Riza.

Riza raised her eyes to look at Roy, who gave her a tentative smile. "Hi Dad!" Maes chirped, breaking the moment. Of course. Havoc raised an eyebrow at Riza, who shook her head. Roy chuckled as he patted Maes' head.

"Hey Maes. You staying out of trouble?"

"Yup!" Maes nodded happily. Roy chuckled. He highly doubted that, not that it was his place to question it. Instead he turned his gaze to Riza.

"You got a minute?"

He wanted to get her away from people. Away from Havoc and Maes and phones with raging harpies on the other line…

Riza looked at Havoc, who nodded (almost a little too enthusiastically, in her opinion). "Maes and I can take care of the store, right bud?"

"Yeah!" Maes nodded eagerly. Riza smiled faintly as she walked over to where Roy stood, following him out the door. Maes and Havoc exchanged conspiratorial grins. They both wanted that walk to end the same way, though for admittedly different reasons.

Riza's mind was racing. She hadn't thought any more about how they were supposed to work out this custody thing. Or how she was supposed to approach the idea of telling him he was off the hook with any obligations he thought he had to her.

"You're out."

The words came out of nowhere. Roy stopped walking and looked down at Riza, bewildered. "…What?"

Riza sighed, tugging a strand of her hair and twirling it around her finger. "About…what you said yesterday…" Roy had said so much. It took him a minute to realize exactly what he was referring to. "If you want to…I mean, I know you want a relationship with Maes, but us…we don't need to…I'm not going to hold you to anything you said yesterday, in relation to us. I'm giving you an out. You're free."

She found herself unable to look at him as she continued to speak. Instead she dropped her eyes to stare at the floor, shifting her weight from foot to foot. She could feel Roy drilling holes into her with his gaze. "You…don't believe I love you?" He asked finally, his voice strangled with disbelief.

"I believe you said something in the moment. Whatever feelings you have for me…no, I don't believe they're love. A strong friendship maybe, or—"

Riza was cut off as Roy tucked his fingers under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. In the same movement he leaned in, pressing his lips against hers and effectively killing anything and everything she'd been about to say. Her eyes widened for a moment before slipping shut, her lips melding against his.

They didn't pull apart until breathing became absolutely necessary. Riza pulled in a deep breath, trying to ignore the fact that the scenery around her was spinning. "Um…" Was all she could manage to say. Roy, however, seemed to know what _he_ wanted to say.

"I love you, Riza." His tone left no room for argument. "I _have_ loved you for as long as I can remember. You are my entire world, you have been for as long as I can remember. I'm not saying this out of obligation or because I'm _confused_ about my feelings…I'm saying it because I'm in love with you. _I_ love _you_ Riza Hawkeye. Period."

Riza still felt as if her head was spinning. She blinked a couple of times, pulling in a deep breath and just staring at him. Her mind was basically blank. Except for one thing she knew had to be said.

"I love you too."

Havoc clapped a hand over Maes' mouth to keep the boy from yelling out-loud as Riza and Roy leaned in to kiss again. Maes was practically over the moon; he jumped up and down in Havoc's grip, his yells muffled by the large hand covering his mouth, making them inaudible to Roy and Riza, who were clearly too wrapped up in each other to notice anything anyways.

_Note to self: Call Rebecca later_.

Well, Havoc reflected with a large grin, things could _only_ get better from here.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Aaawww…next chapter is the epilogue. Sad face. Review please! — Sam


	15. Epilogue — Beginnings

_I've had some time to think about you  
__And watch the sun sink like a stone  
__I've had some time to think about you  
__On the long ride home_

_**~Long Road Home by**__ Patty Griffith_

* * *

_**Silence of the Sound — Epilogue**_

—_**:—:—One Year Later—:—:—**_

_Idiot. I. Am. An _idiot_._

These were the thoughts currently running through the angry mind of Edward Elric. He was cursing the world for letting _this_ be the day — of all the days in the god damn year — that he, Alphonse, and Winry decided they were going to head out to the city, and hey, as long as they were there, why not drop into headquarters and visit their friends?

What they hadn't realized when they'd made that fateful decision was that it was also the same day a certain General Armstrong had also decided to visit.

Al and Winry exchanged tolerant smiles, then looked over at Edward, who was sitting on the end of the couch, his elbow on the arm of said couch, his cheek resting in his hands, scowling. Like everyone else in the room, he was trying very hard not to listen to the mostly-bald, often annoying alchemist standing in the middle of the room, recounting what sounded like the latest of his tales (Edward wasn't _quite_ sure what he was talking about, honestly). Fuery, Breda, and Maria were all half-heartedly attempting to work; their pens were moving, though Edward doubted they were actually writing anything. It must have been hard to concentrate with _that_ loud voice booming across the room. Roy, who was sitting in a position similar to Edward's, though at his desk, was just staring at Armstrong, not even bothering to feign interest.

Denny Broch, who was standing next to Armstrong (though a little ways away to avoid falling victim to the man's constantly swinging arms), happened to look over his shoulder just in time to see two blonde heads peek into the room.

"Ms. Hawkeye!"

Riza cringed at being caught. She'd kind of been planning to just wait in the hall…

Too late. Maes was already bouncing into the office. He had a rather _morbid_ fascination with Armstrong's muscles, it worried Riza and Roy sometimes…

"Hi General Armstrong," Maes chirped, clapping his hands behind his back and bouncing on the balls of his feet. Riza wasn't _nearly_ as happy as her son as she shuffled into the office, one hand resting against her forehead.

_"Wow…you're a big man."_

_Riza slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand, shaking her head. "I swear I taught him manners General Armstrong, I really did…"_

_"He seems like a fine boy, Hawkeye." Armstrong waved Riza off with a chuckle. Maes grinned widely, clearly pleased with the comment._

_"Spend five minutes with him, you won't be saying that…"_

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Roy mumbled over and over as he went over to stand with Riza, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "You are my savior, I love you, thank you so much…"

"Don't thank me yet, we're still here," Riza murmured back. Roy chuckled weakly. "How long has he been here anyways?"

"Two hours. Two. _Long_. Hours. Of listening to Armstrong. I'm just about ready to ask Lieutenant Ross to shoot me."

"I hope she doesn't listen, I quite like having you around. I've gotten used to you."

"Oh good, I'm glad you're used to me. Because you know, if you weren't by now we might have a problem…"

By now Maes had lost interest in listening to Armstrong and had moved over to the couch where the Elric brothers and Winry were sitting.

_"What's _wrong_ with my eyes?" Maes demanded angrily as he glared at Edward, who cringed. He could have sworn that comment had been quiet enough for only Al and Winry to hear._

_"Nothing's wrong with your eyes, pal, don't worry," Al said with a smile, patting the boy's head. "Brother just doesn't know how to control his mouth. Kind of like you."_

_Maes giggled. Ed scowled at the slight. "Thanks Al. Love you too."_

"…and you know what, last night I had to be really good and pretend to be asleep because Mom and Dad were having their 'playtime'—"

Riza and Roy stiffened, and in the time it took blink Roy had bolted across the room and clapped a hand over Maes' mouth, effectively silencing him. "Well then, we were just leaving, we're going out to lunch, come on Maes, let's go…"

And with that he dragged Maes out of the office, a hand still over the boy's mouth to prevent any more words from coming out. Riza was shaking her head, blushing lightly as she followed them. As soon as the door closed, everyone burst out laughing. They all had a special place in their hearts for the loose-mouthed little boy who was constantly getting his poor parents into trouble.

"I'm going to kill Rebecca," Roy growled as he finally released Maes. The poor boy looked disheveled — and a bit confused by his father's admittedly strange actions.

"You can't blame _her_ because he inherited _your_ mouth."

"I can blame her for the things she teaches him though."

Lunch, of course, was a never-ending affair of Maes informing his father of everything that had happened between that moment and when the family had woken up that morning. Roy smiled through the entire thing, though he kept his ears peeled for anything he might not want an entire restaurant full of people to know about his and his wife's private lives.

"And then Mom found out—"

"Maes!" Riza cut the boy off in a surprisingly harsh voice. Maes blinked a couple of times, realizing he'd been about to say something that was supposed to stay secret.

"Oh. Um…never-mind," he mumbled, turning his attention to the fries on his plate. Roy raised an eyebrow at Riza, who was now eating her sandwich with determined, deliberate slowness.

"Something you two wanna share with me?" They shook their heads at the same time. Roy looked between them, smiling a bit at the similarities between the looks on their faces. Neither of them looked like they were going to crack. No problem. Maes couldn't keep a secret forever. "Come on buddy, you know you wanna share this big secret with your dad, you _love_ telling me secrets. Remember when you told me what Mom was getting me for my birthday?"

"He did _what_?"

Maes pressed his lips tightly together, staring at his plate. "Aw Maes, please, you can't hide this from me forever can you?"

"Roy!" He wasn't surprised when Riza slapped him upside the head. "Maes go wash your hands, they're covered in ketchup."

Maes nodded silently, as if he didn't dare to open his mouth, and jumped up, running to the bathroom. As soon as he was gone, Riza turned to glare at Roy. "Don't."

"What's the big secret?"

"You'll find out later."

"That's not fair!" Riza rolled her eyes.

"I thought our _son_ was the six year old, not you."

Needless to say, Roy was _not_ happy when he returned to the office. His already bad mood was magnified when he saw that Armstrong was _still_ there. He slumped across the room, dropping into his seat and returning to his original position as Armstrong launched into the story Maes and Riza had interrupted nearly an hour earlier. Roy sighed, his eyes shifting to the framed photo sitting on his desk. A picture of the two people he loved more than anything in the world. And he smiled despite himself.

* * *

It was quiet. Normally quietness wouldn't be a cause for alarm — unless you happened to be Roy Mustang, who lived in a house with a loud-mouthed little boy and an over-excitable dog. If that was the case, then quiet usually sent you into a panic.

"Let me guess," Roy said as he walked into the kitchen and saw Riza standing at the stove, stirring a pot. "You finally snapped, killed Maes and Hayate, and buried them in the backyard."

"Well if anyone could get away with it, it's probably me," Riza reflected idly. "Unfortunately no, they'll both be home tomorrow, they're spending the night at Havoc's."

"You sure you feel safe leaving Hayate with Havoc? The man wanted to _eat_ the poor dog once for Christ's sake."

"Well if Havoc's house happens to explode we'll know he tried, won't he?" Riza smiled as Roy wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, pressing his chest against his back and leaning in, running his lips lightly along her neck. "Roy…" She moaned, suppressing a shiver. "I'm trying to cook, don't…"

"I believe _you_ owe me a secret," Roy mumbled, moving her hair out of the way to give himself a better view. A few more attacks at her neck and she'd be putty in his hands.

"Later — Roy, the food—"

"Screw it," Roy said at once, reaching around Riza and turning off the stove before turning her around and pressing his lips against hers.

"Do you wanna eat?" Riza demanded, pulling away just enough to be able to speak.

"We have the house to ourselves and no worries that a certain blonde-haired, bigmouthed boy is going to walk into the office tomorrow and yell for everybody to hear about Mom's and Dad's 'playtime.' Forget eating. Just tell me the secret and let's get on with the rest of the night."

"Well aren't you a demanding person," Riza commented dryly as she pulled away from him completely and turned back to the stove, switching it on again.

"What — no, come on Riza—"

"Supper first. You need to eat."

"Who needs food when they have a beautiful wife and no son around to distract them?" Roy asked desperately. His face fell when he saw Riza smirk. Damn it, she was _enjoying_ doing this to him! "Oh you are going to _pay_ for this later," he mumbled as he started into the living room.

"Like you have the kind of restraint necessary for holding out," Riza called after him. It was clear, from the tone of her voice, that she was trying not to laugh. Roy cursed silently. Mostly because she was right; he _didn't_ have that kind of control. Damn it.

Unfortunately, he knew very well that _she_ did.

He headed to their room to change into more comfortable clothes, stopping long enough to peek into Maes' room and silently gloat over the fact that the boy was spending the night with his godfather (and probably godmother, knowing Havoc's and Rebecca's on-again off-again relationship…) before going back into the kitchen.

"So…secret?"

Riza sighed as she turned off the stove and picked up the pan, dumping the vegetables and water into the strainer waiting for her at the sink. "I'm going to have to talk to Maes about his own lack of self-control. Him blurting things out left and right really isn't good for anyone involved."

"You _are_ going to tell me, right?" Roy demanded, a bit concerned now. Riza rolled her eyes.

"Not if you keep harping on it I won't."

Ouch. Roy sighed as he gave in, and let them sit down to have a _quiet_ supper — for once. Not that Roy didn't _miss_ Maes — he hated the nights the boy spent with his godparents or one of the many other members of their "extended" family. And he knew Riza felt the same way. But every now and then someone felt the need to kidnap Maes, just to give Riza and Roy a little time alone. They both appreciated it more than they would ever let on.

"Secret?" Roy said as soon as they were done eating. Riza's response was to glare at him before standing up, taking his bowl and hers and going over to the sink, setting them down in the dishpan before turning off the water. Well fine. If she wasn't going to tell him the secret…

Roy stood up, crossing the kitchen in a few quick strides and reaching around Riza, turning the water off. She rolled her eyes as he trapped her between the counter and his own body. "I have to do the dishes," she informed him dryly.

"They can wait. We have _one_ night. Let's make the most of it, shall we?" And with that he proceeded to finish what he'd started when they'd been standing at the stove. It didn't take long for Riza to break down and turn around, pressing her lips roughly against his and looping her arms around her neck, giving her enough leverage to pull herself closer to him, as if that were possible. Roy snaked his own arms around her waist, holding her tightly and deepening the kiss, parting his lips just enough for his tongue to slip through.

He pretty much wanted to die when Riza pulled away from him. "Oh come _on_…"

"We're not doing this in the kitchen," she informed him gently. "Our son eats in here, remember?"

"So? What he doesn't know won't hurt him." Riza shook her head, smiling a bit as she looked around the room they were standing in.

"This a pretty small house…isn't it?"

She wanted to discuss the _house-size?_ Good lord was her timing terrible. "Yeah well there's only three of us, and two of the three are tiny so it's not hurting anyone, is it?" Riza's response to that was to smack Roy upside the head before she spoke.

"Yeah, but it's not going to be just the three of us anymore."

"Well then we'll—" Roy cut himself off mid-sentence as he realized what Riza had just said. "Wait…what?" He forced his currently sex-dominated thoughts to focus on Riza, and found that she was smiling slyly at him. "You're…?" She nodded. Silence dominated the room for about a half a second.

"_Yes_!"

In the time it took to blink Roy had wrapped his arms around Riza and hugged her with such force that he actually lifted her off the ground. She laughed as he twirled her around in one quick circle before setting her down again and kissing her.

"I love you," he mumbled as he broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers and grinning widely.

"Well I certainly hope so."

Roy laughed, pulling back so he could press his lips against her forehead instead. "Smartass."

"And proud of it."

They both laughed quietly, still wrapped in one another's arms with no sign that they would be separating any time soon. After a moment Roy pulled one arm back, letting his hand come to a rest on Riza's stomach. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his touch and wondering how many times she'd imagined him doing the exact same thing when she'd been pregnant with Maes.

If there was such a thing as heaven, this was certainly it, Roy decided. He was standing there with his pregnant wife, reveling in the feelings that washed over him. He had a wife, a son, and another child on the way. There was no way it got any better than this.

"Oh damn," Roy cursed suddenly, much to Riza's surprise. She blinked, tilting her head up to look at him, confusion alight in her amber eyes.

"Problem?"

"Yes," Roy grumbled, feigning unhappiness. "Hughes was freakin' right. He's probably up in some great beyond right now laughing his ass off at me. Son of a bitch."

Riza laughed, trying not to let her relief show on her face. She would never admit it to Roy, but she'd been nervous about telling him she was pregnant. The biggest part of her had been sure he'd be thrilled (he was constantly griping about all the major milestones — first word, first steps, and all of that — that he'd missed with Maes). But there was always that tiny, insecure part of her that was sure all of this wasn't real, and that one day she'd wake up and find out this wonderful chapter of her life was just another wishful dream.

"Forget about Hughes laughing at you," Riza ordered her husband, pushing the insecurities back down. They had no place in this wonderful, happy moment. "I'm pretty sure we have a lot to celebrate tonight." Roy seemed to like that idea. He refocused his attention on the woman in his arms, leaning in again to kiss her. He was surprised when she stopped him. "Not in the kitchen."

"_Why_?" Roy whined unhappily. "Come on, this isn't fair, I want to have sex in the kitchen. It's right up there on my list, right along with office sex."

"Which is also never going to happen, for the record." Roy sighed. Well if she was going to be like _that_, he'd just have to take what he could get. In the time it took to blink he'd stooped down, scooping Riza into his arms and picking her up bridal-style. "_Roy_…I can walk you know."

"Let me have this," he said as he kissed her again. She laughed before returning the kiss, enjoying every blissful second of it before they pulled apart.

"I love you," she informed him as they started towards the bedroom.

"Well I certainly hope so," he said with a smirk, mimicking her answer from before. She slapped him lightly before giving in to the urge to rest her head on his shoulder. It was okay to act like a normal woman every now and then, after all. Especially when the result was getting to cuddle against her husband's broad, amazingly strong chest.

It was incredible, Riza thought as Roy flopped down on the bed, letting her rest on his chest as they picked up where they'd left off before. It was absolutely incredible how _one_ man could make her feel this way. Like she was completely loved. And as always, the biggest part of her knew she was. There was always just that one part that worried. She knew those feelings would always be there — just like Roy would always be there right when she needed to squash said feelings and remind him that she was his and he was hers, and they had a son and another child on the way. They were a family.

Forever.

* * *

_**The End**_

* * *

**Author's Note: **…And they all lived happily ever after. Or something like that. Anyways, this story was quite the trip, but I gotta say, I enjoyed it. I've definitely come to love little Maes, and the whole story in general was just…fun. I dunno. I liked it.

_**ForeverSam's Corner of Sappiness **_— So if you're an old-time reader of my stories you're used to this section. If you're new, this is the place where I get down on my knees and thank you repeatedly for sticking with me throughout this wild ride. So thank you, thank you, _thank you_ for all the reviews and encouragement! I was a little hesitant when I first started, I'm well aware that OC children don't generally go over well with readers and I was _so_ glad that everyone loved Maes so much. The whole story idea is just one that sometimes isn't received well, so I was pleased with the response. I think this might be the first story I've written that hasn't gotten a flame of some kind, which is really kind of surprising. So yeah. Thank you again!

And with that, I shall now wander out of the realm of FMA fanfiction. Not exactly sure where I'm going — I've still got my Bleach story I suppose (if you happen to be a Bleach fan, check it out, it's called _Shattered_, it's IchiRuki, and yes, this was a shameless plug). Thank you all again for reading, it's been a blast! —Sam PS: Yay for ridiculous Author's Notes that are more than half a page on Microsoft Word!


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